Dream On
by RinsDarkMagician
Summary: Everyone is having dreams about Lucille and Kohaku falling in love! Lucille finds it fun and is willing to try his luck with Kohaku, but Kohaku is hesitant and apprehensive. Can they find love or will these dreams never come true? Lucille/Kohaku YAOI
1. There Was An Accident

_**I must thank my wonderful friend for helping me complete this story. If you didn't "push" me to do it I don't think it would have ever gotten done! I fear that there are multiple typos in here (maybe) cause I suck without a beta. But it should be fine for the most part. I read over it a bunch *crosses fingers* There aren't enough Ningyou stories on this site and that is exactly why I had to write one. **_

**_This chapter wasn't exactly inspired by a song, but this song fit it very well. The song is called I Made An Accident by Davichi. A portion of the lyrics are at the bottom ^_^_**

_**Enjoy ^_^**_

Lucille slowly opened his eyes and looked around the car. Eles had just been yelling in his ear to wake up because they were almost at their next destination. He continued to lie down, grateful that the other passengers allowed him to have the backseat all to himself. That always made sleeping easier; however it seemed it was time to wake up. He gave a shout as Eles jumped from the front to the back and landed on his stomach.

"We're almost to the city, Lucille," she said to him.

He quickly sat up and covered his face so he wouldn't get the urge to glare at her. He loved Eles but he was unforgiving to anyone who would dare wake him so abruptly and obnoxiously. However, he thought about the dream he had just woken from and smiled to himself. Perhaps sharing his dream would turn his sour mood sweet.

"Kohaku," Lucille called out to his companion.

Kohaku was sitting in the front seat with his legs resting on the dashboard. He looked quite relaxed and frankly didn't want to be bothered with Lucille at the moment. He ignored the singer and simply stared out of the window.

"I'm talking to you!" Lucille yelled, hitting him in the back of his head.

"You bastard! If you hit me again I promise I'll shoot you!" Kohaku retaliated.

"So barbaric," Lucille said more to himself than anyone. "I had a dream about us, Kohaku, and I wanted to share it with you!"

If Lucille could see Kohaku's face then he would see how it twisted into a look of disgust. Kohaku just shook his head. "I don't want to know about your sick dreams, Lucille. I can only imagine what goes on in that head of yours."

"It wasn't a sick dream. On the contrary, it was quite amusing."

"I want to hear it, Lucille!" Eles spoke up. She looked at Lucille with a smile and he smiled right back at her. He was always grateful for Eles's childish innocence. It opened so many doors for him to have fun.

"Sure thing," he said, focusing his attention on Eles instead of Kohaku.

Kohaku turned around quickly and glared at both of them. "Shut up! I said I didn't want to hear about your stupid dream!"

"It started out in a forest. Kohaku and I were walking down a long trail to a training area for assassins."

"Assassins?" Eles asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"Yes, Kohaku and I were assassins. We were going to the training area to practice our skills so we wouldn't get rusty."

"What were your weapons? Did Kohaku use guns like he usually does? Oh, and did you sing? Was your voice your weapon?" Questions came flying from Eles's mouth before she even realized she was thinking them.

At this point Kohaku just growled and turned back around in his seat. There was no stopping these two once they got started. Kohaku would just have to wait it out and hope Lucille didn't say anything to piss him off.

"Actually we both used completely different weapons than what we normally use. Kohaku used bladed fans and he used them quite gracefully; a huge difference from the Kohaku we know and love. His movements flowed so perfectly together. It was beautiful to watch."

Another growl escaped the violinist's mouth.

"Yes, he was indeed elegant. He almost looked like a dancing geisha with the way he used his fans."

"Lucille…."

"I, on the other hand, used a normal blade," Lucille quickly started talking about his own weapon before Kohaku decided to end the conversation right then and there. "Well, I don't want to say it was normal. I had these long armored gloves and I kept a blade hidden in each. They could pop out when I wanted them to so I could use them as I pleased."

"That's so neat! What else happened?" Eles said with eagerness in her voice.

"Like I said, we were at a training ground so naturally we were training. We were practicing with our weapons and it was quite fun. Even Kohaku was laughing and smiling as we trained."

A roll of his eyes was the only response the violinist bothered to give.

"But then this woman came to the grounds to spoil our fun. She was also an assassin and she started to insult my techniques! She called me an amateur."

"Who was she?" Eles visibly started to get angry at this mystery woman.

Lucille shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Just some assassin who thought she was better than us. At first she only insulted me but then she moved on to Kohaku. She didn't really say anything about his weapon or techniques, but she started to insult his scar."

No one noticed how Kohaku flinched after hearing that statement.

"Kohaku's expression never changed. He just stared at her while she was just going on and on about his scar; I thought he was just going to sit there and take it. But one minute that woman's mouth is just yapping, yapping, yapping, and the next minute there's a bladed fan in her face."

Silence swept over the car.

"Kohaku…threw the fan at her?" Eles asked quietly.

Lucille nodded, that same smile remaining on his face. "Indeed he did! If you blinked you would have missed it, which it turns out I did. I just blinked and when I opened my eyes again the woman had the fan in her face. She fell to the ground and Kohaku went over to her, stepped on her chest, and pulled the fan out. If you knew her you wouldn't be able to recognize her. Her face was literally gone."

"Hmph. That's what she gets for making fun of me," Kohaku said in a low voice. He personally didn't care for Lucille's dream one bit.

"That's…pretty scary, Lucille. But I suppose it fits Kohaku really well. I can see him doing that to someone," Eles said thoughtfully.

Before Lucille could say anything further about the dream he was stopped by Gwindel's slightly worried voice.

"There are guignols up ahead. A good amount of them too. I don't think we'll be able to drive through without fighting them."

No one reacted faster than Kohaku did. He was already half way out of the window with his guns in his hands. "I'll take care of these creatures!" he shouted confidently. He jumped to the roof of the car and began to take aim. Lucille rolled his eyes as he saw the guignols in front of them start to fall one by one.

"I suppose we'll go ahead and let him handle this. Keep driving, Gwindel. He can shoot them out of our way as we go," Lucille said.

Gwindel did as he was told and continued to drive through the slew of guignols. Lucille watched as Eles stared at the ceiling of the car. She was obviously worried about Kohaku, but she knew he could take care of himself. This wouldn't be the first time he has ridden on top of the car and it certainly wouldn't be his last. However, Eles couldn't help but feel that what he was doing was a bad idea.

"Maybe we should stop the car and help him. This road is pretty bumpy. What if he falls off?" Eles asked, concern written all over her face. She raised her voice a bit to be heard over the sound of Kohaku's bullets.

Lucille just chuckled. "You haven't been traveling with us very long, Eles. Kohaku does this all the time. He'll be fine."

Eles wished she was as calm as Lucille and Gwindel. It didn't matter how many times Kohaku had done this; there was a first time for everything and the man was in no way invincible. Eles continued to stare at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of the gunshots and praying that Kohaku would be all right.

However, fate made her choice. The town was just barely in sight when Gwindel hit a rather nasty bump. The whole car shook and the scream Kohaku let out as he fell from the top of the car did not go unnoticed.

"Oh no…." Lucille said in a whisper. Gwindel quickly stopped the car and Lucille ran out with Eles behind him. It didn't take even a second for the guignols to surround the fallen Kohaku. Lucille couldn't even see him as the guignols covered him, already attacking with all of their strength.

Lucille opened his mouth and let his voice ring through the ears of anyone who was close enough to hear. As he sang he ran towards Kohaku, giving his voice more strength. Eles couldn't help but cover her ears as Lucille sang. The sound coming from his mouth was so distressed. She had never heard any human sing with such despair. She couldn't stop her tears as the mournful cry of her friend filled the air. Yet, regardless of how despairing the sound was it was taking out guignols and soon there were barely any left.

Lucille watched as the guignols around his fallen comrade began to explode, but that didn't comfort him any. It didn't take much to contract the guignol virus. Even touching the blood of a guignol could turn a person into one of the living dolls.

"Kohaku!" Lucille screamed, interrupting his song. He knew Eles was right behind him and that Gwindel was making sure the few remaining guignols wouldn't be able to get near them.

"Kohaku? Kohaku? Say something. Say anything." Lucille said. He fell on his knees next to Kohaku and lifted his head into his lap. It was then that the singer noticed a gash on his head. He must have hit his head when he fell, making it so he couldn't quickly react to the guignols closing in on him. The violinist's clothes had been torn and Lucille could see scratch marks and blood coming from the wounds where the guignols attacked him.

"We've got to get him to the city. They might be able to take care of him," Lucille said frantically. Kohaku then opened his eyes slightly and tried his best to focus on the person in front of him.

"Lu…." Kohaku couldn't even finish his sentence. The guignols had really done a lot of damage to him. Lucille began rubbing his hair gently and gave him a small smile.

"We're almost to the city. They can treat your wounds there, Kohaku. You'll be fine," Lucille tried to convince himself more than Kohaku. A few tears escaped his eyes and he did his best to wipe them away, but the tears he wiped away only got replaced with new ones.

"Don't be foolish, Lucille," Gwindel said, causing Lucille to give him the most evil glare he could muster. "You know they won't let him in the city. He's been attacked by guignols. There's a possibility he's contracted the virus and they won't risk the virus spreading by allowing him inside," Gwindel said, glaring right back at Lucille.

"They don't have to know!" Lucille screamed, pulling Kohaku closer to him. "We can tell them he tripped and hit his head on a rock!"

"And what about his clothes? And the scratch marks on his body?" Gwindel pointed to the markings left by the guignols.

"I don't know! We'll make something up! He's in pain, Gwindel; he's hurt! We can't just leave him to die!" Lucille shouted back. He leaned as far down toward Kohaku as he could and pressed the other man's head against his neck. "I can't lose him. I've lost so many others; I can't lose Kohaku like this."

It frightened Eles to hear Lucille scream at his comrade like that. But she could also hear the sadness in his voice. She knew they were all liars when they said they didn't care about each other. The proof was right in front of her. Lucille was clutching Kohaku like he would never let him go and even though Gwindel tried to be the reasonable one, she could see that he was worried about his fallen friend.

"Lucille?" Eles said in a low voice. He quickly looked at her, making her flinch. She looked from Lucille, to Kohaku, then back to Lucille. Kohaku's eyes were still slightly open, never leaving Lucille's face. They were glassy and for a minute she was frightened that they had a lost him. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw him blink.

"We're going to help him. There's a small chance that he hasn't contracted the virus. If we get him to a hospital they can treat him and help him. We need to leave now though."

Lucille nodded at her with wide eyes. He looked toward Gwindel, silently begging him to not give up hope just yet. The larger man shook his head before quickly yet carefully gathering Kohaku in his arms and heading back to the car with Lucille and Eles right behind him. He placed the injured man in the back seat and watched as Lucille climbed into the back seat as well. He once again placed Kohaku's head in his lap and started to tell him that he would be ok.

Gwindel and Eles jumped into the front seat and they made their way to the town.

Kohaku thought it was all a dream. It had to be a dream. There was no way in hell he would let himself get attacked by a bunch of guignols. There was no way he would smack his head against a rock and be too dazed to defend himself. There was no way he would allow Lucille to hold him and affectionately rub his hair. There was no way he would feel so protected in the arms of the singer. There was no way he would ever feel guilty for the tears falling down that pretty face. There was no way he would want to do whatever he could to make those tears stop.

There was no way….

He slowly opened his eyes but then quickly shut them. The sun was way too bright and he just wasn't in the mood. He tried to move his arm so he could cover his eyes but he found that pain shot through his body when he tried moving at all. He gave a moan and tried opening his eyes again. He managed to open them into slits and began to take in his surroundings.

The room he was in was white. He was also in a really comfortable bed. He hadn't slept in a comfortable bed in ages. His bed was either somewhere in the car or on some hard mattress the clients had stuck him on. This was a pleasant change, to say the least. He did his best to turn his head so he could feel more of the pillow on his face. He successfully managed the task but he was unhappy with what he saw next.

'_The hell?'_ He thought to himself.

When he turned his head he was met with Lucille's large eyes staring at him. Lucille was laid out on the bed next to him, smiling gingerly at him.

"Are you feeling better?"

Kohaku just stared for a few more minutes before responding. "What are you doing here?"

"I was really worried about you, Kohaku. You've been unconscious for two days. I've stayed in here so you would have some company when you woke up."

"Two days?" Kohaku began to wake up fully. He noticed that his body was bandaged up, particularly his head. That dream he had must have been true.

"You fell off the roof of the car and were attacked by guignols. We rushed you to the nearest city and they treated you. You had a concussion but you should be fine."

"The guignols…?"

"It seems that you didn't contract the virus. Signs would have shown by this point. You're a lucky one," Lucille said with a grin.

Kohaku did his best to nod and closed his eyes again. It seemed that this small conversation was enough to leave him exhausted. He didn't beat himself up too much over it though. He had just woken up from a two day coma. It was understandable that he wouldn't be able to do much of anything for a while.

"Kohaku?" Lucille called out to him in a small voice.

Kohaku made no indication that he heard him. Lucille wasn't bothering him; he just wanted to rest a bit. Talking proved to be too much for him at this point. However, it seemed Lucille had something he wanted to say and he was going to say it no matter what.

"Kohaku?" Lucille called again. Once again there was no response. That was fine by Lucille. He smiled wickedly as he leaned closer to Kohaku and planted a small kiss on his lips. That certainly woke the other man up.

"What the hell, Lucille?" Kohaku yelled as best as he could but it came out more as a scratchy squawk.

Lucille smiled wider knowing that Kohaku could do nothing to defend himself. Lucille pecked his lips again and before Kohaku could even get a word out he pecked him again. He kissed his lips over and over again until the other man got the picture and stopped trying to talk entirely.

"That's better." Lucille grinned at the violinist. "Do you remember that dream I was telling Eles about in the car the day you got attacked?"

Kohaku closed his eyes as he thought about it. "Unfortunately, I do. We were assassins and I killed some woman because she made fun of my scar."

"That's right." Lucille reached his hand toward Kohaku's face. For a moment Kohaku thought the singer was going to touch his scar and if he did then there was no way anyone could have prevented Kohaku from throwing the biggest hissyfit the world had ever seen. Luckily for the citizens of the earth, Lucille bypassed the scar and began stroking Kohaku's hair. The violinist didn't like it but at least he wasn't touching his scar. And he didn't dare say anything about it lest he be kissed again.

"Well, there was more to my dream. I wanted to tell you in private. Eles didn't need to know about the second half of it."

"The second half?" Kohaku questioned.

Lucille nodded. "After you killed that woman you ran off somewhere. I tried to chase you but you were too fast. I looked for you and called for you and eventually, when night fell, I found you. You were sitting by a huge waterfall that was hidden by trees. I went up to you and touched your shoulder. You didn't look at me but I could tell you had been crying. I asked what was wrong and you said you hated it when people talked about your scar."

"Ain't that the truth…." Kohaku said.

"I wanted to do whatever I could to make you feel better. You just looked so sad," Lucille continued on.

"I don't get sad, Lucille."

"That's not true. Everyone gets sad, even you, Kohaku. I know that you are usually only angry but there are other emotions hidden inside there. Don't lie about it."

"Look who's talking," Kohaku cleared his throat. It was obvious it was taking a lot of effort for him to speak. "The man with the plastic smile has no right to tell me about my emotions."

Lucille stopped short and stared at him. He had nothing to say to that. Everyone knew his smile was fake but only Eles had ever called him out on it. It was different hearing that same thing being said by Kohaku. It made him realize that everyone did know that he was only putting on a front; that he felt he was truly alone in the world. He removed his hand from Kohaku's hair and lowered his eyes from the other man's face.

"What happened when you found me?" Kohaku asked suddenly.

Lucille perked back up almost immediately. Was Kohaku really interested in his dream? Lucille figured he had to be. Kohaku wasn't the type of person to listen to something that he had no interest in. Lucille looked into Kohaku's eyes again and continued with his story.

"Well, I sat down next to you and you put your head on my shoulder. You started sobbing and I held you close to me," Lucille closed his eyes as he remembered the more intimate parts of the dream. "I wanted to do whatever I could to get you to stop crying. I would have given you the moon if it meant you would stop crying."

Kohaku chuckled as he thought about how he felt when he saw Lucille cry over him. No one had ever cried over him before and it made him feel almost guilty to have someone actually do it. He too would have given Lucille the moon if it would make him stop crying.

"I don't need the moon," the violinist said. "You probably did a great job of comforting me."

Lucille smiled a bit and looked back into Kohaku's eyes. "I sang to you a little bit. That calmed you down a lot. I eventually suggested that we leave but you didn't want to go. You looked me in the eye and grinned as you leaned forward to kiss me."

Kohaku's eyes grew wide when he heard that part. He continued to stare at Lucille who looked like there was nothing wrong with the dream at all.

"I kissed you? Not the other way around? Why were we even kissing at all?" Kohaku said.

Lucille shrugged. "I don't know. You tell me. You were the one who decided to kiss me."

"Is that why you decided that it would be ok to just start kissing me whenever you felt like it?"

Lucille smiled and leaned forward to kiss Kohaku on the lips again. Kohaku wanted to move but his body was in too much pain for him to even try. There was nothing he could do but sit there and let Lucille peck him again.

"I think that dream made me get a little crush on you, Kohaku." Lucille said, rubbing the other man's hair again. "I mean, you're pretty cold and somewhat of a bastard, but you're cute and you fight for me when I need you to and I don't think you'll ever betray me."

Kohaku avoided his gaze as best as he could. It was true that Kohaku honestly had no intentions of betraying him. However, their relationship was that of a master and his slave; nothing more beyond that. Kohaku almost laughed out loud when he realized how that thought made him a bit sad. Perhaps he didn't want to take their relationship as far as Lucille wanted, but maybe they could at least be friends. It was a start.

Lucille watched as Kohaku was taking it all in. He wanted to laugh at how adorable he looked. Kohaku never volunteered to join Lucille and that made him feel trapped under the other man, but now Lucille could see that he wanted to be more than that. He just didn't know where to begin. As long as Kohaku was willing to see a change, then Lucille would be willing too.

"Stop thinking, Kohaku," Lucille said when enough time had passed without either of them saying a word. "If you think too much you'll hurt yourself, especially in this state."

Lucille didn't allow Kohaku to say another word further. He wrapped his arms around him and brought him closer. Kohaku looked around, confused, but then Lucille kissed him again. This was different than the previous times though. This time Lucille opened his mouth and Kohaku felt the other man's tongue against his lips. He didn't want to show Lucille that he was starting to get desperate for him. He did everything in his power to stop the butterflies in his stomach and the emotions and feelings soaring through his body. It didn't work though.

Kohaku opened his mouth wide and let Lucille enter. Any other time Kohaku would have fought him for dominance, but today was not his best day.

'_Next time….'_ Kohaku thought to himself, excited at the very thought of a next time.

Lucille continued kissing him, running his tongue along Kohaku's teeth. The dark haired man shuddered and allowed their tongues to play with each other. He did the best he could to lift his arms and put them around the other man. It proved to be too much for him because he had to break the kiss so he could catch his breath. He wanted so desperately to touch him, regardless of the pain. He began to play with Lucille's long hair, enjoying the feel of it's silky strands. Lucille just smiled and brought the violinist even closer to him. He kissed him on the forehead before moving to kiss each of his cheeks and then finally his lips.

"I think you've had enough for one day," Lucille said sweetly. "Try going back to sleep."

'_Are you leaving…?'_ Kohaku thought. He didn't want to say it out loud but he wished the singer would stay with him, at least until he fell asleep.

"And I'm staying right here. I haven't moved since we got here and I'm not going to move now." Lucille said, as if reading the violinist's mind.

Kohaku did his best not to smile, though he failed miserably. Even though it took a lot of effort he managed to wrap his arms around Lucille's chest and place his head in the nape of his neck. Lucille took one of Kohaku's hands in his own and held it tightly while rubbing the violinist's dark hair with his free hand. Kohaku's body was still in pain so even though he was exhausted it was hard for him to fall asleep. However, after only a few moments a sweet voice started to flow into his ears. Lucille was singing him to sleep.

Kohaku couldn't help but feel like this whole situation was scary, yet amazing. Perhaps it was the medication but he never wanted this moment to end. Here he was, his arms around the thin singer, with his sweet voice filling the air, and in an extremely comfortable bed. To him, that was the perfect combination.

"Where are we going next?" Eles asked excitedly. She turned from her place in the front seat to focus on Lucille and Kohaku who were in the back.

"Well, I had spoken to one of Kohaku's nurses and she told me that some odd things were happening in the next town over. I think we should investigate," Lucille answered.

Eles nodded in agreement before looking over at Kohaku. They had made sure he was well enough to travel before they left and he insisted he was no longer in any pain. He still had a bandage wrapped around his head and around a few other wounds on his body. He currently had his arm over his eyes and was ignoring them.

"Are you sure you're all right, Kohaku?" Eles asked.

"If you ask me that one more time, I'll throw Lucille out of the car!" was the response she received.

"Why me?" Lucille cried out.

Kohaku just shrugged, not really wanting to get into a discussion about it. Eles just laughed and let it go. Ever since he got out of the hospital Kohaku spent a lot of his time teasing Lucille. He seemed to really enjoy it and Lucille didn't seem to mind either. Eles just assumed they had found a new way to communicate in that period of time Kohaku was injured. Lucile did spend day and night with him after all. She figured they had to have bonded somehow.

She turned back around in her seat and looked up at Gwindel before asking if she could play with his hedgehog. He visibly twitched but eventually told her it was all right. While she was focused on the hedgehog and Gwindel on driving, Lucille reached over and put his arm around Kohaku. The other man removed his arm from his eyes and silently stared at the singer.

"I know you're sleepy," Lucille said to him with a smile; a smile Kohaku couldn't help but notice was real.

"I am tired." Kohaku said, unable to deny it.

Lucille pushed the other man closer to him with his arm and forced him to rest his head on his shoulder. "Then rest. I'll wake you when we get to the city." He rested his head on Kohaku's and even dared to give him a small kiss.

Kohaku wished he could say that he minded but on the contrary he more than welcomed it. He gave a loud sigh as sleep began to overtake him.

"This is just like my dream, when we were sitting by the waterfall," Lucille whispered to an already asleep Kohaku. "See? Dreams do come true."

_I told you, that I love you_  
_ I confessed my love to you _  
_Without me knowing, My heart created love towards you _  
_Even though I try so hard to prevent it, I know it'll hurt, but I still make that accident_


	2. Save Me

_**So here is the second chapter to my story. I should have known that it wouldn't be a one shot. I am keeping the theme of dreams so this chapter is also about a dream AND about Lucille and Kohaku's relationship. **_

_**I had a lot of inspiration for this chapter. The first came from the very beginning of Volume 2 of Grand Guignol Orchestra. There was a picture of Eles and she had puppets of the three men. I loved that picture so that is totally in this chapter. The second came from the end of GGO volume 2. There was a picture of a guy who looked exactly like Kohaku but it wasn't. He was wearing a maid outfit though and I loved it so that went in there too. And also inspiration came from Kaori Yuki's other manga Godchild. Cain and Riff have very intimate moments together and those moments inspired me for Lucille and Kohaku.**_

_**In this story all the chapters are named after songs. They weren't necessarily inspired by the song, but the song title/lyrics fit ^_^ This one is Save Me by Nicki Minaj.  
**_

**_This chapter was supposed to be cute because of the puppets but it actually turned out very dramatic! I'm warning you now, so go on in and enjoy!_**

"What exactly are you doing, Eles?"

Eles looked up from her work to see Kohaku raising his eyebrow at her. She smiled as she lifted the fabrics in her hand so he could get a better look. Gwindel looked up from his hedgehog to see the fabrics as well. Their car was currently parked with no destination ahead of it. They had no mission so the four of them simply stayed in the car, waiting on something to do; Lucille and Eles in the backseat and Kohaku and Gwindel in the front.

"I'm sewing. I bought some fabrics and sewing equipment at the last town. I get bored listening to you guys argue all the time so I needed something to entertain myself," Eles laughed to herself and went back to sewing. Kohaku nodded at her but was aware that she missed his point.

"I see that you're sewing, Eles. What I should have said was: where did you get the money to sew?"

Eles looked away from her sewing again but this time placed her eyes on Lucille, who was resting his head on the window. His eyes were already closed, but he seemed to close them tighter when he heard Kohaku ask his questions.

"Well, Lucille gave me the money," Eles said, looking at Kohaku.

Kohaku nodded again. "Lucille, darling, wake up, please. I need to talk to you."

Lucille shuddered when he felt Kohaku's hand on his cheek. Kohaku may have sounded sweet, but Lucille could hear the venom behind the love. He kept his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, knowing it would never fool Kohaku.

"Lucille…." Kohaku said in a sing-song voice.

Lucille was going to continue to avoid Kohaku when he suddenly felt pain all through his cheeks and jaw. Kohaku pressed Lucille's cheeks in with his hand and from the look on his face he was enjoying it.

"Ok, ok! Let me go!" Lucille cried as best as he could. Kohaku kept his hand in place for a few more moments before finally letting go. Lucille rubbed his cheeks, while glaring with all of his might at Kohaku.

"I gave her the money."

"And where did you get the money from?"

"Don't be such a jerk, Kohaku!" Lucille yelled. "Eles works just hard as you and Gwindel so she deserves a cut of the pay!"

"You gave her the money from our missions? That's supposed to pay off our bail, Lucille!"

"I know, Kohaku. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I knew you and Gwindel wouldn't agree. But Eles deserves something for working with us. I can't just let her work for free," Lucille told him. He looked at the violinist with sad eyes and could see him start to melt.

Ever since Kohaku fell off of the car and Lucille told him about his dream, they grew closer and more trusting with each other. Even Eles and Gwindel were able to see the change between them. Since that change came about, Lucille learned that Kohaku would bend to pretty much anything the singer wanted. Lucille continued to look at him with sad eyes and kept apologizing for not telling him about giving Eles money.

"Fine!" Kohaku yelled, turning around to face the windshield. Lucille smiled and stretched his hand to Eles, receiving a high five from her. He only just starting trusting Kohaku fully, but he never had that issue with Eles. He always trusted her and could confide in her. He told her about how he kissed Kohaku at the hospital and that he thought he was falling in love with the dark haired man. He also told her how he wasn't sure how Kohaku felt about him. They were both able to see how he treated Lucille with more kindness and even affection, but he never showed if he actually loved him. Lucille didn't know it but Eles had a plan to see if Kohaku felt the same way that the singer did.

"Don't worry, Kohaku. I don't need to get paid. I have entertainment now," She held up what she had been sewing and Kohaku turned around in his seat to see it.

"The hell are those things?" he nearly yelled.

On Eles's fingers were four puppets: Herself, Gwindel, Kohaku, and Lucille. Lucille touched his puppet and smiled widely.

"These are precious, Eles. It didn't take you too long to make them!"

"Nope. It only took me a couple of days. Thanks for giving me the money, Lucille. Now I can play with them when I get bored."

"They're very accurate," Gwindel said.

"No, they aren't! I'm in a damn dress!" Kohaku yelled.

"Not just a dress," Lucille said, touching the Kohaku puppet. "You're in a French maid outfit."

"Why the hell am I wearing that, Eles?"

Eles thought he was going to reach over and rip up her puppet. "I had dream about us and you were in a maid outfit," she stated.

"A dream? Are you serious? What is it with you guys having dreams about me?" Kohaku turned back around.

"Let me tell you about it, Kohaku! I think you'll like it!"

"I'm in a dress! There's no way in hell I'll like it!"

"Just listen!" Eles said and then she started on her story.

_Once upon a time there were three siblings. These three siblings were royalty and lived in a giant white castle in the middle of the land they ruled. They all got along and ruled the land together rather than having one of them step up to take charge. Things worked out better that way since they all had good ideas about how things should be run. The economy was good, their people never went hungry, most of the people had jobs, and no one seemed to dislike the way the three of them were ruling. They lived in a perfect Wonderland. _

"_Nothing is ever perfect, my dear sister," Prince Lucille said one day. He looked at his twin sisters and smiled at them. Princess Eles looked shocked at his statement while Princess Celes didn't change her expression at all. _

"_But just look outside, Lu! Our people are happy! There is nothing more we can do to make things better because everything is perfect," Princess Eles argued. _

_Prince Lucille kept smiling. He always loved his sister, Eles, for her childish, if not naïve, outlook on the world. She kept her innocence and it made Lucille believe that not all hope was lost. She always wore white and he couldn't help but think that it was the perfect touch to add to her pureness._

"_What he's trying to say is that even when something seems perfectly clean, there are no doubt hidden stains," Princess Celes interjected._

_Lucille and Eles both looked her. Lucille never thought it would be possible for twins to be so different from each other. If Eles was the naïve child then Celes was the realistic pessimist. She wore black, the opposite of her sister, and was always quick to remind her two siblings when things were not going right or when things would never even work. She had a dull attitude and never tried to understand her brother and sister's optimism. _

"_Yes, I suppose you could put it that way," Lucille said. Eles just gave him confused look. He smiled and put his hand on her head. "Nothing you need to worry about, dear sister. I was wrong. If you believe everything is perfect, then it is."_

_Celes just rolled her eyes and stood to leave. "Where is Gwindel? I want him to go on a walk with me." _

"_I believe he's cutting the roses. You might find him in the garden," Eles answered. _

_Celes scoffed. "You would think a butler would be closer around to the ones who pay him."_

"_He does have a whole mansion to keep up, not to mention an entire staff to manage, and employers to answer at their every beck and call. Give him a break, sister," Lucile said. _

_A growl was the response he received as he watched Celes leave the room, her heels clicking angrily on the floor. _

_Eles didn't seem to notice her sister's annoyance as she stood up and grabbed her brother's arm. "Let's go the kitchen and see what the cook is making for dinner!" she said excitedly. _

_Lucille laughed as he was dragged down the hallway to the kitchen. Before they made it there, Eles stopped and pointed down the hallway. _

"_Who's that? I don't think I've ever seen him here before," Eles said. _

_She was pointing at a man with who seemed like he really didn't belong in the castle. He had on a long trench coat that went to his ankles, the black color of the coat matching the black of his hair. The collar of the coat stood upward and covered his mouth and nose, making him look more suspicious than he should have. The man was looking at a large portrait and didn't seem to notice the two of them walk up. Lucille moved Eles behind him as he addressed the strange man. _

"_Excuse me? Can I help you with anything, sir?" _

_The man jumped as if he was startled and stared Lucille in the eye. Lucille remained calm but wanted to gasp at the large scar the other man had. It went from his forehead all the way across his face. Lucille wondered what could have possibly happened to the man, when he suddenly gave a curt bow and spoke. _

"_Forgive me. I am looking for Princess Celes. I'm new here and don't know my way around the castle yet."_

"_You're…new here? A servant?" Lucille asked. _

"_Yes! In fact is that Princess Celes behind you?" he bowed again. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Princess Celes." _

"_Oh, I'm not Celes!" Eles told him, coming out from behind Lucille. "My name is Eles. I'm Celes's twin sister." _

_The other man's eyes grew wide. "Oh, you're her sister! Of course, my apologies. And that must mean that you're Prince Lucille. My name is Kohaku. It's wonderful to meet both of you." _

"_Pleasure," Lucille said hurriedly. "Celes never told us she was hiring another servant. In fact, we are actually full on our staff. Have you talked to the head butler as well?" _

"_I can't say I did. Princess Celes said I could have the job without speaking to him."_

"_No, I'm sorry. You'll have to speak to-"_

"_Kohaku! You made it!" Lucille was interrupted by the sound of his other sister, Celes, who came running down the hallway with Gwindel following behind her. _

"_Kohaku, I assume you've already introduced yourself to Lucille and Eles?" _

_He nodded. "Yes, ma'am, I did."_

"_Lucille, I know it seems like I hired him without bringing it up to you and Eles, but this man is amazing. He was recommended to me by a friend and I thought that you could use another pair of hands."_

"_I could use another pair of hands?" Lucille asked, putting emphasis on the 'I'. _

_Celes nodded. "Yep! I hired him to be your personal servant. He works for you and only you. He'll wait on you hand and foot. You're always so busy since you're the oldest of us siblings so I thought having your own servant could give you a little break. You'll die young if you keep going the way you are." _

_Lucille looked at Celes as if she were crazy. "Celes, I appreciate the thought but, I don't need my own servant. We have plenty of servants who can do whatever I need them to. Why do I need-"_

"_Because Kohaku is different than the others!" Lucille was getting really tired of being interrupted. "Kohaku will be there for you no matter what. He'll do anything you tell him to do and you said it yourself that this is a big mansion to run! If all three of us are keeping the servants distracted then it's making Gwindel's job that much harder! Lucille, I implore you to use Kohaku and you'll see how this will make your life easier." _

_Lucille was not convinced. He thought the entire idea was ludicrous. He rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking over at Gwindel. _

"_Do you agree with this, Gwin?" _

"_If the mistress says it is a good idea then I have no qualms about it. It will not effect me whether you decide to take this man on as your employee or not." _

"_Very good answer, Gwin." Lucille said, rubbing the bridge of his nose even harder. Gwindel was no help, so he turned to his other sister. _

"_And you, Eles?" _

"_I like the idea!" Eles said excitedly. "You do work hard since you have to make all of the official calls. Having a servant do some of your normal, every day things could be nice. Not to mention you can talk to him when you don't have us to talk to, since he'll always be by your side."_

_Lucille felt trapped in a corner. One sister wouldn't let up, the other was over excited, and the butler didn't care one way or the other. He looked at Kohaku, who had remained silent throughout the entire conversation. _

"_And you, sir?" _

_Kohaku let out a chuckle. "I'll be happy to be your personal servant, if you'll allow me to be." _

_Lucille sighed loudly and finally stopped rubbing his nose. "Ok. You can be my servant, but only on one condition…."_

_And so, it was that Kohaku became Prince Lucille's personal and permanent servant. At first Lucille was extremely apprehensive, but soon he realized that Kohaku was helpful to have around. He did whatever Lucille asked him to do without hesitation or complaining. Not only did he do it without complaining but he made sure he did the job well. Lucille was never unsatisfied with the work Kohaku did. He was the perfect little servant. _

_However, there was one time that he complained and whined. When Kohaku first started to work under Lucille, there was a condition that the prince required of him. On that first day, Lucille took his new servant up to his room and opened his closet door. Kohaku was surprised to find that the closet was full of women's dresses. He raised his eyebrow but did not question his new boss's sense of style. _

"_Ah, this will do perfectly," Lucille said, pulling out a dress._

"_What…what is that?" Kohaku asked. _

_Lucille smiled widely as he ran his hand over the little French maid dress, complete with an apron and head piece. "This is your condition, Kohaku. This is your uniform and if you refuse to wear it you can show yourself to the door." _

"_B-but this is a dress! I'm a man!"_

"_Well, so am I and I see nothing wrong with wearing a dress. Take it," Lucille held the dress out to Kohaku. "Unless you think you would rather look for another job outside of the castle."_

_Kohaku looked at the dress with disgust, but knew he had no choice. He snatched the dress from his new boss and was about to change into it, but he stopped and stared at Lucille. The blonde prince crossed his arms and smiled at him, making the other man shiver. Kohaku thought it would be bad idea to change in front of the prince; he did enjoy wearing dresses, after all. There was no telling how he would react to watching someone change into the maid outfit. _

"_If you can show me my quarters, I'll change in there." Kohaku quickly said. Lucille grinned even wider and motioned for his servant to follow him. And that was the beginning of Lucille and Kohaku's relationship. _

_A few months had passed since Kohaku joined them. He still wore the dress and he still did an excellent job. One day, while Kohaku was bent down tying his master's shoes, Lucille spoke to him. _

"_How did you meet Celes?" Lucille asked him. _

_Kohaku paused tying the laces to look at the prince. "Well, I worked for one of her friends. Unfortunately, that family had to let me go but recommended to the princess that she take me on. I met with her and she liked me and then suggested that I work for you and only you, rather than work for the entire castle."_

"_Why did the family let you go?" _

_Kohaku avoided his master's gaze and went back to tying the shoes. "Their son had died. His parents, the people I worked for, were devastated. They fired everyone, but I was particularly close to their son. They didn't want to just fire me so that's why they called Princess Celes."_

_Lucille nodded and watched as Kohaku stood up, indicating he finished tying the shoes. Lucille looked up at him from his chair before slowly reaching out and taking his servant's hand in his own. _

"_Prince?" _

_Lucille smiled at Kohaku. "It may sound selfish but I'm glad you came to work under me. You work hard, you don't complain, and you make sure I'm always happy and comfortable." _

"_That's my job, Prince. I'll always make sure you're happy." Kohaku said. _

"_You've been with us for six months now, Kohaku. I feel closer to you than anyone else, even Eles and Celes. You're different, Kohaku." _

"_Don't say that, Prince. Those girls are your sisters. You love them more than anything, especially more than some lowly servant."_

"_I do love them, but I also consider you more than a servant. You're my best friend, the only person I can confide in. You won't judge me based on my decisions and even though you do what I tell you to, you let me know when something I do or say is wrong. You won't let me make mistakes, but if I do make a mistake you won't blame me for it. You're so much more than a servant to me."_

_Kohaku shook his head and took his hand away from Lucille. "No, I'm just a servant. Nothing more, nothing less. I do what you tell me because it's my job. I listen to you because I'm supposed to." He turned around so he wouldn't have to look into the prince's eyes. "I tell you when you're wrong because you always think you're right. Don't glorify me to something that I'm not." _

_Lucille stood and tugged on the bow from the apron Kohaku was wearing. "You're a bad liar. How come you want me to think you don't care about me?"_

"_Because I don't. This is a job for me, a way to make money. That's all." _

_Lucille stopped tugging on the bow and wrapped his arm around Kohaku's waist. He felt the other man tense up and smiled as he started to smell his hair. "There you go, lying again. No one likes liars, Kohaku. Now, as your master, I demand that you tell me the truth." _

_For a moment, Kohaku felt grounded to the floor. He couldn't speak or think or even breath. His master never spoke to him this way before. The truth? What truth did he want? Kohaku wasn't lying; at least he didn't think he was lying. Their relationship was master and servant. Kohaku did what his master told him to do because it was job. He told him he was wrong because no one else would tell him when he was wrong; someone had to do it! _

"_The truth?" Kohaku said in a whisper. _

"_Yes, stop lying to me and tell me the truth, Kohaku." Lucille said into his hair. _

"_You're beautiful." _

_Lucille stopped short and blinked twice before responding. "Well, not the truth I was looking for, but a truth nevertheless," The prince let go of his servant and walked in front of him to the door. He had places to go and didn't have time to play around. _

"_You're beautiful too, Kohaku. I love seeing you in the maid dress. I think I might try to get you a pink one." _

_The prince left Kohaku in the room, leaving to go find his sisters. Kohaku knew he had an important meeting to go to and all three of them were required to show up. Usually Kohaku was always there, regardless of the importance of the meeting but this time he was not allowed to come along. He stayed put and sat down in the chair his master had just been sitting in. _

"_He'll want tea when he comes back. And I should go ahead and make his bed properly and then get everything together for his bath." Kohaku went though his list of things to do and sighed. His boss was high maintenance but it was nothing that he couldn't handle. _

"_Hey, you!" _

_Kohaku jumped, startled at the sudden voice ringing through his ears. He looked at the door to see Princess Celes walk through it in an extravagant, sleeveless black dress. _

"_Aren't you supposed to be at that meeting?" Kohaku asked. _

"_I'm about to leave. You and I need to talk!" She walked close to him and stared down at him like a mother to her son. Kohaku avoided her gaze by focusing on the floor. _

"_Why isn't Lucille dead yet? It's been six months. Six! How much longer do you need?" _

"_I told you that I can't just come at him randomly. These things need to be planned out." _

"_You've had six months to plan it out!" Kohaku tensed as Celes screamed at him. He knew he had been putting off killing Lucille. He wasn't lying when he said that it required a lot of time to plan out a murder, especially the murder of someone who was always being watched like the prince. _

"_Just give me more time. I promise I'll-"_

"_You'll murder him tonight. You'll do it when he goes to sleep. And if you don't I promise I will make your life a living hell." Celes pushed his shoulders before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind her. _

"_Damn. Damn, damn, damn!" Kohaku yelled, slamming his fist on the arm chair. _

_Kohaku never considered himself a caring person. That was far from the type of person he was, however every now and then a person came along who made him tweak his normal way of thinking. Prince Lucille happened to one of those people. _

_The prince said that he trusted Kohaku and that he was his best friend. He said that he felt closer to him than anyone else, even his own sisters. No one had ever said things like that before. No one ever felt any sort of connection to Kohaku and regardless if he admitted it or not, he was starting to feel the same about Lucille. Yes, the prince was demanding and annoying and perverted, especially for making him wear that maid outfit, but the prince was also kind and caring and Kohaku could see love in his eyes. He treasured the moments when it was just the two of them. Something has simple as tying Lucille's shoes made Kohaku feel happy and closer to the man. _

"_What's happening to me?" Kohaku whispered to himself. "What's happening? What the hell is happening?" _

_He pushed down that bothersome voice that was telling him he had fallen in love the prince. He refused to believe it. He couldn't fall in love with the prince. He had a mission to fulfill and he intended on completing it. _

_A scoff left Kohaku's lips. "I better not be in love with him anyway. In just a few hours, he'll be as good as dead." _

_The meeting didn't take as long as Kohaku expected it to. Lucille arrived home with his two sisters trailing behind him. He said he was tired and told Kohaku he was going to skip his bath and go straight to sleep. Kohaku looked from Lucille to Celes and almost cringed at the look she gave him. Kohaku quickly escorted his master up the flight of stairs to his room, helped him change, and put him to bed. _

_It was almost midnight when Kohaku made his way back to Lucille's room. He slowly opened the door and creeped in, gently shutting the door behind him. The room was pitch black but after six months of cleaning and spending all of his time there, he knew his way around. There was a chair next to the door, so the servant grabbed a pillow from it and quietly made his way to the bed. He climbed on, knowing very well that Lucille was a light sleeper. He straddled his master's waist and waited for him to wake up. He didn't have to wait long. _

"_Kohaku?" Lucille said, sleep evident in his voice. He blinked a few times trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness. He wasn't able to see Kohaku's face but he could clearly make out the figure. "What are doing? Why are you here?" Kohaku could tell that he was indeed waking up fully. _

"_I'm sorry, Prince," the servant whispered. _

"_What?"_

_Lucille tried to scream as he felt a pillow cover his face. He kicked his legs and flailed his arms but it was useless. He wasn't making contact with Kohaku at all, so he instead grabbed a hold of his servant's hands and tried to move them; they weren't budging. He didn't realize Kohaku was so strong. He listened to his own muffled cries and began to panic. He began to slap at Kohaku's hands in a last, desperate attempt to get him to stop what he was doing. It was no use. He felt the pillow being pressed harder into his face. What was Kohaku doing? Why was he doing this?_

_Lucille couldn't focus on that as his chest began to tighten. Each inhalation was so painful. His lungs cried for air yet they could find none. The fear was overwhelming and he did his best to scream, knowing no one but his murderer could hear him. His own voice was inaudible to him; he wasn't sure if he was saying comprehensible words or not. The muscles in his arms and legs started to feel like weights. Lights began to flicker in front o f his eyes and soon the pain in his chest started to dissolve. His arms and legs fell flat on the bed and even though he knew that it was the end, he more than welcomed it, if just to escape the pain. He never imagined that his last moments would be filled with so much terror. Terror and sadness; sadness that the man he once trusted was now his assassin. _

"_Please, stop screaming. Please, stop. Don't scream anymore. Please, Prince, stop screaming." Kohaku whispered as he held the pillow on Lucille's face. He couldn't stand the sounds of his master's screams. _

"_Help…me...oh, please…."_

_Kohaku pressed even harder as his master tried to cry for help. He wanted this to be over quickly but he knew that wasn't possible. Cruelly enough, suffocation took a long time. Kohaku remembered that he once read in a book that drowning was the most painful way to die. Wasn't suffocating and drowning essentially the same thing? Kohaku moaned at the thought of Lucille being in so much pain. _

"_Kohaku…please, stop…." Lucille's strained and muffled voice made it to Kohaku's ears. _

"_Shut up!" Kohaku screamed, unable to take hearing him any longer. "Just shut up! It's almost over, ok? Shut up!" _

_He watched as Lucille's arms stopped hitting him and fell to the bed, as well as his legs. Kohaku blinked a few times and slowly started to loosen up on the pillow. _

"_Prince?" he called out to him. _

_He fully removed the pillow and reached over to turn on the lamp on the desk next to the bed. The light illuminated Lucille's face and Kohaku couldn't help but let out a small cry. His lips formed a perfect O as he stared into the glassy eyes of his master. _

_He never suffocated anyone before. He thought that when someone was suffocated their faces would turn blue, in almost a comical way, or that they looked like they were sleeping. Neither was the case here. He held his hand to his mouth as he took in the sight before him. _

_Lucille's mouth was still open in a silent scream. His eyes stared into the dark nothingness, glazed over and lifeless. There was some blue on his face, just as Kohaku imagined. His lips were just a tinge blue, if they could even be called that color. They had darkened a bit and compared to the paleness of his face, one could call the color of his lips black. His face was wet from sweat and from what Kohaku thought were tears as well. _

_Mission complete. _

_Kohaku rose from the bed, bringing the pillow turned murder weapon with him. He placed it back on the small chair and left the room, closing the door behind him and ignoring the sob starting to rise in his throat. _

_Morning came just like any other day. Even though Kohaku got no sleep, he still had things he needed to do. He was still a servant and would be until Celes paid him for his job. After he got paid he would leave and never look back._

_He worked with Gwindel to prepare breakfast for the three siblings. Gwindel noticed he was a bit shaky, but decided not to say anything about it. Everyone had their off days and it didn't matter to him as long as his work got done. The siblings always ate their breakfast on the patio. He and Kohaku brought their food to them, just like any normal day. _

"_Where is Master Lucille?" Gwindel questioned when he noticed only Eles and Celes sitting at the table. _

"_I'm not sure," Celes said, stirring her tea with a spoon. "Kohaku, did he not want to get out of bed this morning?" _

_Kohaku blinked as he tried to think of an appropriate answer. "He…I knocked on his door but he didn't call to me. I figured he must have been tired after yesterday's meeting so I decided to leave him alone." _

"_I understand," Celes said. She smiled to herself and Kohaku couldn't help but think that she was the devil himself. "Thank you, Kohaku." _

_He closed his eyes, knowing very well what she was thanking him for. He couldn't wait to get his money and get out of there as fast as he could. He thought he would go crazy if he had to spend even a moment longer in that damned castle. _

_And for a minute…he did think he was crazy. That couldn't have been Lucille's voice…._

"_I was quite tired but I would have woken up if someone decided to actually enter my room." _

_Kohaku slowly turned around and forced down his urge to scream. There he was. The prince was standing right in front of him. He had dressed himself and looked like nothing had occurred the night before. He smiled and walked so close to Kohaku he could feel the heat exude from his body. _

"_What's the matter, Kohaku? You look like you've seen a ghost," Lucille said. _

_Kohaku opened his mouth but nothing came out. He knew he probably looked like frightened little boy, but to say he wasn't frightened was a lie. He couldn't see it, but he could feel the blood leave his face. He knew he looked as pale as Lucille had looked last night. _

"_I…I…I…." Kohaku stuttered out._

"_You, you, you…? You what?" Lucille reached up to touch Kohaku's face, but as soon as his hand made contact Kohaku screamed and stepped backward, losing his balance. He fell backwards while still looking at Lucille with horror on his face. _

"_A clumsy little maid, aren't we?" Lucille teased, bending down to pull at Kohaku's dress. _

"_Kohaku, are you feeling well? You were a bit jittery this morning too," Gwindel said, helping Kohaku stand. He had to hold him since Kohaku was unable to even stand on his own. _

"_N-no! I feel…so tired and sick. Please, I need to lie down," Kohaku grabbed onto Gwindel's coat and hid his face away from Lucille. He thought he was literally going to start vomiting if he looked at him again. _

_Lucille nodded. "He does look pale. Take him to my room, Gwindel, and let him rest there for a bit." _

_Gwindel nodded and was about to leave when Eles jumped up and appeared next to him. "I'll go too! I want to make sure Kohaku is ok." _

_Lucille watched as the three of them left before focusing his attention on Celes. He smiled at her and sat down, grabbing a piece of bread as he did so. _

"_Celes, I have some unfortunate news." _

_Celes just stared at her brother and waited for him to continue. She was not in the best of moods right now, considering Kohaku didn't finish his job. _

"_We have to let go of Kohaku." _

_It took everything in Celes not to burst out laughing. She could only assume that Kohaku did indeed try to complete his mission, but had failed miserably. Lucille would never fire his servant, unless, of course, he did something horrible._

"_Why is that? Did he do something to upset you?" Celes feigned concern. _

_Lucille nodded. "He tried to kill me last night. He suffocated me with a pillow and he almost succeeded. Most people don't know that when they suffocate someone they should continue to suffocate that person even after they think that person is dead. If they aren't truly dead, then once air gets back into their lungs they'll be right as rain."_

"_Oh…oh dear god, Lucille!" Celes ran to her brother and hugged him as tightly as she could. "How can you be so calm about this? We need to call the authorities and have him arrested! Oh, thank God you are still alive!"_

_Lucille smiled as he hugged his sister back. "Now, now, dear Celes, don't act so upset. After all, we both know you want me dead and gone."_

_Celes slowly back away enough to look Lucille in the eyes. She looked into them with disbelief written all over her face. "What are you talking about, Lucille? How could you even say something like that?"_

"_Why else would you hire a mercenary to be my personal servant? Do you honestly think I wasn't suspicious since that first day Kohaku arrived at the mansion? I had Gwindel do some research on him. Imagine my surprise when I found out that he is a trained mercenary, not only that, but also a weapons master. Gwindel was ready to have him arrested that day but I decided to wait it out a bit. I knew you had grown tired of working with Eles and me, but I never expected you would go so far, Celes."_

_Celes pushed away from her brother, her look of disbelief turning into a look of disgust. She should have known Lucille would have figured it all out. Her brother was no fool. She didn't say anything so Lucille kept on speaking. _

"_You don't like the idea of working together. You want to rule this kingdom on your own so you devised a plan to get rid of me. Even though I listen to the two of you, I'm the one who makes all of the official calls since I'm the oldest. You knew that once you got rid of me you could call the shots since Eles would never be able to stand up to you. You should have killed me yourself, Celes. I was able to charm the heart of your mercenary. He's yours no longer."_

_Celes thought her head was going to explode. He had read her like a book. She thought of all the mistakes she had made since she decided she was going to take out Lucille. He was right. She should have done it herself. At least that way she knew that the job was going to get done. However, she relied on another human being and that proved to be her downfall. Celes looked at the table and grabbed the knife that was sitting on it. It only made her angrier to see that Lucille did not falter. He still remained in his seat with that calm, smug look on his face. _

"_You're so arrogant, brother! I deserve to rule this kingdom! You're right; I don't want to work with people like you and Eles. I have my own ideas and you two stand in the way of me pursuing them! There are so many things I can do for this kingdom if you would just shut up and let me try!"_

_Lucille chuckled. "No, Celes. The only thing you want is to become a dictator. You want to rule this land with an iron fist to make yourself feel more special. I love this land and I won't let you do anything to harm it." _

"_Then die." Celes raised her knife and was about to run to her brother when she felt something grab her arm. She looked up into the eyes of her butler and gave a yell as he squeezed her arm, forcing her to let go of the knife. _

"_Is that all true, Celes? You wanted to kill Lu just so you could rule by yourself?" Eles stood by the doorway to the patio, a few tears falling down her face. Celes had nothing to say to her twin. Telling her it was all true was pointless and telling her how much she hated her was just as pointless. She kept her mouth shut and stared at Lucille as he stood. _

"_I'm sorry, Celes. Today you're going to get arrested and put in jail. Both Eles and Gwindel heard everything so they'll be able to tell the police what you were up to as well. As for Kohaku, he'll sing when I tell him to. However, he'll be changing his story a bit. I'm going to pretend last night never happened. Instead he came to my room and told me the plan you so deviously came up with. Since he's been working for us for years there was no way he was going to let you kill me." _

_Celes listened as Lucille told her what he was going do. He was going to pretend Kohaku had been his servant for years? She would get arrested and forced to spend the rest of her life in prison, if she managed to avoid death, while this lowly killer got off free?_

"_You bastard! You would pick some nobody over your own sister? How could you? How dare you?" she screamed at him. _

"_No," Lucille said, pulling Celes's hair down so she would have to look up at him. "I'm not picking a nobody over my sister. I'm picking a man I trust and love over a relative whose greed surpasses any thoughts of loyalty and love," Lucille let go of her hair and began to walk away. "Gwindel keep an eye on her and remove her from my sight at all costs. I never want to look at her again." _

"_Yes, sir," Gwindel kept his grip on Celes, never letting up for a moment. _

_Lucille touched Eles on her head and she looked up at him with a tear stained face. This was reality and even though Eles seemed like she wasn't ready for it, Lucille knew she would be fine. After all, they had each other. She would miss her sister but she would understand that she needed to be punished. _

"_Eles, would you be a dear and call the authorities?"_

_Eles slowly nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. Lucille smiled at that and pulled her into a hug. "That's my girl. I hate seeing you cry. Wipe those tears away and keep your head up."_

_Eles nodded and returned the hug. "I'll take care of it. You go on. I know you want to see Kohaku." _

_Lucille rubbed his sister's hair before standing and running to his room. _

_Kohaku sat on the bed with his knees to his face, rocking back and forth. He sat at the very spot where he thought he killed Lucille. He thought of Lucille's glassy eyes and frozen, pale face. Those eyes…they were the eyes of a dead man. It hadn't been the first time Kohaku had seen those eyes. He knew death when he saw it and he had no reason to believe that Lucille hadn't been dead. _

"_He was dead. I know he was. He was dead," Kohaku whispered. _

"_Actually, I wasn't dead. You only thought I was." _

_Kohaku jumped and backed away as far as could without falling off of the bed. Lucille was standing in the doorway, staring at Kohaku like he was prey. _

"_I thought…I mean…your eyes…." Kohaku was unable to finish his sentence. _

"_You almost killed me. Suffocation is not a sure way to kill someone. You should have shot me. Just know that I'm alive and accept it. Can you do that for me?"_

_Kohaku closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. Lucille was alive; there was nothing he could do about that. He had other things to worry about now. He would definitely be arrested and probably put to death. Even though the thought frightened him he was more upset to think about leaving the castle. It meant he would never be able to see Lucille again. He covered his face with his hands so the prince wouldn't be able to see the pain etched on it._

_Kohaku jumped again when he felt something move the bed. He removed his hands to see Lucille sit down on the opposite side of the bed, still staring at his servant. Kohaku's hands quickly went back up, however Lucille grabbed them and forced them back down again. _

"_Are you upset, Kohaku?"_

_Kohaku could only nod. What has this man done to him? He was once a proud mercenary; a killer with no feelings or remorse who worked for any price. Now, he wanted to do nothing more than stay in this castle and work for his master, wearing that stupid maid outfit. _

"_Kohaku," Lucille said gently. He put his fingers under Kohaku's chin so he would look at him. "You're not going to get arrested. I refuse to have that happen. Instead, you're going to testify against Celes and tell them that she asked you to kill me, but that you wouldn't do it."_

_Kohaku's eyes grew wide and he couldn't stop the tears from falling down his face. "Why…why would you do that for me? I tried to kill you, prince. Why would you want to save me?" _

_Lucille smiled as he wiped the tears away from Kohaku's face. "People do crazy things when they're in love," Lucille closed his eyes and he kissed Kohaku on his lips. The other man tensed, but more than welcomed the action. Lucille held his lips there for only a moment before pulling away. _

"_After all, you tried to kill me. If that's not crazy, then I don't know what is," Lucille said as he pressed their foreheads together. "Oh, and please, call me Lucille. No more of this 'prince' stuff."_

_Kohaku nodded and lifted Lucille's hands to his face. He gently kissed his delicate fingers before looking him in the eye again. He had no idea what he was doing, but he knew he had never felt so sure in his entire life. "Ok…Lucille." _

_Lucille seemed to glow when he said his name. He didn't hesitate to press their mouths together again and kiss Kohaku passionately. Kohaku had never felt such fire in heart as he felt their tongues slid against each other. He reached up and touched the prince's perfect face as he opened his mouth wider. Lucille lowered him onto the bed, their mouths still entwined. After many more moments of kissing they finally pulled away. Kohaku stared into the eyes of his once master, now lover. He rubbed his long hair tenderly before pushing the prince's face into his neck. Lucille relaxed and wrapped his arms around his chest. _

"_I want to stay here and work for you." _

"_As my personal servant?" _

"_Yes." _

_Lucille smiled. "Sure thing. There is one condition I have though." _

_Kohaku giggled as he continued to play with Lucille's hair. "I'll keep wearing this maid outfit. I don't mind so long as I get to stay with you."_

"_Oh, you're still wearing the maid outfit," an evil look made its way into Lucille's eyes. "But…I have a pink one now…." _

"And that's the end of my dream!" Eles said enthusiastically. She looked at Kohaku, who looked like he wanted to jump over the seat and grab her throat. She was unable to tell how Gwindel felt about it (as usual.) Lucille, on the other hand, had tears in his eyes. She might have been able to take him more seriously if he hadn't taken the Kohaku and Lucille puppets she made and put them on his fingers during the middle of her story.

"That was beautiful, Eles!" he cried out to her. "Who knew you dreams were full of such inspiring romantic fantasy?"

"It wasn't inspiring! It was dumb!" Kohaku yelled.

"No, it wasn't! It was a beautiful dream. I…I thought that the love between us was fair and humble. It was a bit selfish of you to try and kill me just so you wouldn't have to deal with the fact you were in love, but then you didn't care whether you were sentenced to death or put in jail! You just wanted to stay with me! That couldn't have made me happier," Lucille said to Kohaku.

Kohaku looked at Lucille. He noticed earlier that he had been crying, but had done nothing to try and comfort him. He started crying at the part where Kohaku tried to kill him. He supposed that would make anybody sob, but he didn't stop crying for the remainder of Eles's story. Did the dream touch him that much? Kohaku wondered if he thought that the dream was going to come true.

"I'm not as much of a punk as I am in that dream. It was a stupid dream and I don't want to hear anything else about it!"

Kohaku opened the door to the car and scrambled out of it. Lucille called to him but he didn't stop moving. The singer looked at Eles and Gwindel, who both just shrugged.

"Go to him, Lucille," Gwindel said. "I think we both know he's going through some unfamiliar emotions right now. If it were anyone else I would say to leave them alone, but I think he needs you now."

Lucille marveled at the wisdom Gwindel had. He rarely spoke but when he did it was usually something spectacular. Lucille nodded at him and jumped out of the car. Eles looked from Lucille to Gwindel. She held out the Gwindel puppet to him but he shook his head. He held his hand out as if to give her a high five and she put her palm over his. He would have ripped her puppet if he even tried to put it on. She took her hand away and giggled, making Gwindel give her a small smile.

Lucille didn't have to walk far to find the dark haired man. Apparently, Kohaku decided he would just sit behind the car rather than try to run away. Lucille stood next to him for a moment before slowly lowering the Lucille puppet to the other man's face.

"I don't want to see that," Kohaku said.

"Well, you don't want to talk to the real Lucille so I'm afraid you'll have to talk to me," Lucille moved the puppet around to indicate that it was the one talking. He didn't try to disguise his voice as he spoke. He figured it would only serve to upset Kohaku even more.

"Talk to me, Kohaku," Lucille moved the puppet closer to Kohaku's face. He stared at it before looking to the ground and shaking his head.

"What happened between us? When did things change?"

Lucille closed his eyes and sighed before responding to Kohaku's questions. "Well, I suppose it was that day that you fell off of the car. I didn't realize how much I really cared about you, Kohaku. The thought of losing you made me want to give up on life entirely. And then as I lay with you at the hospital I couldn't help but pray that you were going to be ok. I'm…I'm so in love with you."

"Don't say that," Kohaku said. Lucille noticed his voice sounded scratchy. Even though he didn't want to hear it Lucille had to get it out.

"It's true though," He said, making the puppet touch Kohaku's face. "I love you so much. I want to stay with you forever."

"Just stop!" Kohaku yelled, pushing the puppet away. "I don't love you, so don't tell me you love me! You're lonely and want someone to be with, but don't you dare pick me!"

Lucille didn't feel anything as he heard Kohaku's words. He could tell the other man was lying. Considering how Kohaku treated the singer after he got out of the hospital, it was obvious he cared about him. Lucille looked at his puppet and at Kohaku's puppet. Eles's story truly touched his heart. He thought that the two of them could be happy together, just like how they were at the end of the dream.

"You said that in the dream too," Lucille slid to the ground next to Kohaku. "Please, don't lie to me, Kohaku."

"I'm not lying! So stop-"

"No, you stop!" Lucille interrupted him. Kohaku quickly shut his mouth and stared into the eyes of the singer. "Kohaku, in Eles's dream I was a lonely prince and you were my servant. You listened to everything I said and did exactly as you were told. Isn't that just like how things are in reality?"

Kohaku didn't answer as he lifted his knees up and buried his face in them.

"Even now, I'm alone on my throne and I only have my servant, you, who I truly love. Don't break my heart by telling me that you don't love me."

Kohaku stayed quiet and Lucille could feel the tears sting his eyes. He knew Kohaku was cold and bitter. What would it take to melt the other man's heart? Lucille was on the verge of simply giving up and heading back to the car when he felt something on his hand. He looked down to see Kohaku entwine his fingers with his own. Lucille looked into Kohaku's eyes and smiled. The violinist lifted his other hand to Lucille's face to wipe away a tear the singer didn't even realize was there.

"I won't lie to you anymore," Kohaku said. "But don't make me say it. I don't want to deal with this, hell, I don't even know how to deal with this!"

"I'll help you! We'll figure this out together!" Lucille cupped Kohaku's face in his hands, desperately wanting to kiss him. Kohaku turned his eyes away from him as he leaned forward and rested his head on Lucille's shoulder.

"I know we will but for now…let's just keep things simple. Let's just stay like this."

Lucille nodded and kissed Kohaku on the head. He was right. There was no need to rush. Lucille was ready to jump into a relationship with the man in front of him at a moment's notice, but Kohaku wasn't so confident. However, Lucille understood that and he didn't want to force Kohaku to do anything he wasn't ready for. That would only drive him away. Kohaku would come to him willingly and when that day came, Lucille would welcome him with open arms.

_You gave me strength _  
_Gave me hope _  
_For a lifetime _  
_This time won't you save me; this time won't you save me_  
_ Baby I can feel myself giving up, giving up _  
_Come save me _

* * *

_**So, that was it. This chapter was different than the first one cause you were actually taken into the dream. Also, I really like Gwindel and Eles's budding friendship! It wasn't supposed to be that way but it did happen so now I like it haha! Maybe they'll play Cupid to Lucille and Kohaku.**_

_**Kohaku is hard to imagine being in love, but I see him as being the type who doesn't want to admit it. He doesn't want to say that he's in love because that involves being vulnerable and letting someone in deeper than most people are comfortable with. In this case, considering that he is with Lucille against his will he certainly wouldn't want to be in love with the man. However, love conquers all, and it's only a matter of time before Kohaku finally breaks down. We can already see it happening by how the chapter ended ^_^**_

**_And the puppets will be returning in the next chapter...see you then! _  
**


	3. Together When

_**Welcome back to view the spectacular Orchestra Royal! ^_^ So...this chapter was so hard to write and I fear that it may actually be difficult to understand. Remember those puppets in the last chapter? Well, they are back but this time they have their own sections where they talk. What I'm afraid of is that readers will get confused on who exactly is talking so here is how to differentiate:**_

_**Eles, Lucille, Kohaku, and Gwindel are all the same. Those are the humans, the main characters of the story, the members of the orchestra, etc. **_

_**Eles puppet, Lucille puppet, etc are hand puppets. They are large hand puppets that fit over the entire hand. **_

_**Eles child puppet, Lucille child puppet, etc are finger puppets (the ones from the last chapter). The only fit over fingers. **_

_**Yeah, there are more puppets in this chapter. It will be explained I promise. Hopefully this will help you tell the difference between everyone though it really isn't as hard to understand as I'm making it out to be. If the word 'puppet' is following a name then it's a puppet. If not, then it's a human. Easy. **_

_**The dream in this chapter was inspired by Ludwig Kakumei, another of Kaori Yuki's stories. ^_^ Also the title for this chapter is Together When by Ayumi Hamasaki, but the lyrics don't really fit it haha. Obviously was not an inspiration for this chapter.  
**_

**_I think that's all I have to say so go ahead and enjoy!_  
**

It was an understatement to say that Kohaku hated the puppets. He despised them with a passion. He imagined taking each and every one of them and ripping the heads off of them, however he knew two of his companions would never forgive him for doing that.

Eles and Lucille were sitting at a small table in the room they were in. Kohaku had taken a chair and moved it as far away from the table as he could. He was sitting backwards in the chair and next to him was Gwindel, lying in a bed. He was taking a nap but Kohaku didn't understand how he could sleep with the noise the other two were making.

They were staying in a castle owned by a baron. The baron thought Lucille was a woman, as was usually the case, and put him in a large guest room on the upper level. Eles, Gwindel, and Kohaku had to share a less exquisite room in the lower level. Lucille was currently visiting them and none of the staff or the baron seemed to care either way. As long as the orchestra completed their job, Lucille could do whatever he wanted.

"I'll save you, Lucille!"

Kohaku cringed as he heard Eles try her best to imitate him. He thought she should take some lessons from Spinel considering how miserably she failed to sound like him. He watched as she made his puppet run to a fallen Lucille puppet.

"Oh, thank you, Kohaku! I knew I could count on you!" Lucille said, lifting his puppet as the Kohaku puppet reached him. "The children will be so happy to see me again."

Kohaku shook his head. He didn't understand how it happened but one day he woke up and the number of puppets had doubled. Eles and Lucille were having so much fun with the finger puppets that Eles had decided to go ahead and make larger hand puppets. The puppets fit over their hands and they could move the puppet's hands with their fingers. But having those big puppets didn't mean they got rid of the finger puppets; two times the puppets, two times the fun.

Luckily for Eles, she had decided to dress the larger Kohaku puppet in a suit instead of a maid outfit. She knew that if she made another Kohaku puppet dressed as a maid he would not hesitate to kill her.

Lucille took the larger hand puppet of himself and made it grab the smaller finger puppet of Eles. They had affectionately started to refer to the finger puppets as "children." They would add "puppet" to the end of the names of the hand puppets and "child puppet" to the end of the names of the finger puppets.

"I missed you! I missed you!" Lucille puppet said to Eles child puppet.

"I missed you too!" Eles child puppet said. Kohaku cringed again as Eles made her voice higher to sound like the child puppet. Lucille also sounded pretty mediocre when it came to imitating everyone. Kohaku thought that since he was a master of his voice he would be able to imitate them quite accurately. Spinel could sound like anyone she wanted to, even a man; why couldn't Lucille do it?

"Can you sound like me?" Kohaku inquired.

Eles and Lucille stopped playing and looked over at him. "What do you mean?" Lucille asked.

"Well, you do have that spectacular voice and you and Spinel went to the same school right? She can change her voice to sound like anyone and I was just wondering if you could too," Kohaku explained.

Lucille already had a smile on but when Kohaku asked that question it seemed to glow even brighter. Kohaku had asked a question about him. To him that was a big deal. It meant that the other man was interested in knowing more about him. Such a simple question meant so much, even if Kohaku didn't realize it did. Lucille thought of it as Kohaku taking one more step toward falling in love with him. Slowly but surely, Kohaku was showing more interest in him.

"Well, I'm not nearly as good as Spinel at doing that. It's a special trade that I didn't focus on. She is truly a master of voices while I just focused on singing."

"But I'm sure you can do it," Kohaku said, leaning forward in the chair. "You already sound like a woman when you sing. I'm sure you can change your voice to sound like mine."

Lucille was getting more and more excited to see Kohaku so interested in him. The two of them had a fighting chance to be lovers after all. Lucille took a deep breath and picked up Kohaku puppet. If the other man really wanted to test Lucille's limits, then Lucille would give him a show.

"My name is Kohaku. I'm a violinist in a traveling orchestra run by a gorgeous man named, Lucille," Lucille said, moving the puppet's hands around with his fingers. He watched as Kohaku's eyes grew wide. The singer did his best to imitate him and apparently he was doing a great job. Judging by Kohaku's face, the singer sounded exactly like him or close to it.

"I like guns very much. I use them to kill guignols and bad people. Although, we now have a young girl in our group and I shouldn't use guns so casually around her."

"You sound exactly like him!" Eles exclaimed.

"You really do," Kohaku said, his voice filled with awe.

Lucille picked up the Eles puppet and put it over his other hand. He had the two puppets face each other and started talking.

"I'm Eles. I'm new to the orchestra. I hold the titles of the pianist, the youngest, and the only girl. Of course, Lucille gets mistaken for a woman all the time so I guess in a way I'm not the only girl."

Eles gasped as he started to imitate her. She clapped her hands together and stared at him with stars in her eyes. "You sound exactly like me, Lucille! How do you do that? Why didn't you tell us you could do this before?"

Lucille smiled and noticed that Kohaku's expression was still one of shock. He was still impressed with Lucille's ability. That made the singer happier than he ever imagined he could be. He felt like he was riding on clouds anytime Kohaku showed interest him. He didn't want the attention to end so he kept talking as the two puppets.

"Sometimes I'm mean or crude but that doesn't mean I don't have a heart," Kohaku puppet said. "There's someone I care about. I care very much for him but I have trouble admitting it. Everyone can see it and I know it, but I still can't seem to bring myself to tell him how I really feel."

Kohaku gave a quiet growl and turned his face away, but it seemed Lucille wasn't done yet. The singer started to imitate Eles's voice.

"It doesn't matter if everyone knows or doesn't know," Eles puppet touched the hand of Kohaku puppet. "The man you care about is waiting patiently for you to come to him and tell him what's in your heart. He'll wait forever if he has to, so take your time and when you're ready he'll be there for you, waiting like he always has been."

That statement made Kohaku wonder exactly how long Lucille had been waiting for him. Who was to say the singer had only just fallen in love with him when he had his dream? For all Kohaku knew, Lucille could have been in love with him since they met. However, just hearing that Lucille didn't want to rush him and that he would keep waiting for him made Kohaku feel so special. Kohaku could take all the time in the world to gather his feelings and Lucille would still be there for him. No one ever showed Kohaku that much loyalty.

Unfortunately, he didn't have too much time to think about it because in that exact instant Gwindel shot up from the bed giving a loud gasp. His hedgehog, which had been resting peacefully on his chest, went flying through the air and was heading straight for the opposite wall.

"I've got him! I've got him!' Eles yelled, jumping to her feet and running to catch the hedgehog.

"Don't worry, Gwindel, I'll catch him!" Lucille screamed, also jumping to his feet.

Kohaku, without saying a word, was already running toward the hedgehog. Unfortunately, Lucille and Eles ran into each other, knocking each other to the ground and it was now up to Kohaku to save the poor creature. He jumped onto the table and leapt in the air, just managing to catch the hedgehog. He brought him close to his chest as he fell to the ground. Luckily, he had Lucille and Eles to cushion his fall, much to their own discomfort.

"Is it safe?" Lucille asked, putting his own safety aside for the hedgehog.

"Yeah, he looks fine," Kohaku said, taking a few deep breaths.

"Then get off of us. You're heavy," Eles said from underneath him. Kohaku immediately stood and when he did, Gwindel was right next to him to take the hedgehog out his hands. Lucille was next to stand and he quickly helped Eles get to her feet as well.

"What the hell was that all about?" Kohaku asked, walking back to his chair. Eles and Lucille flopped onto the chairs they had been sitting in and rested their heads on the table. Kohaku wasn't exactly light, especially considering all of the weapons he had hidden under his clothes. Lucille wanted to go back to his room upstairs and rest in the large bed, but he didn't think he had the energy to even stand up again let alone walk all the way up the flight of stairs.

"I apologize." Gwindel said, petting his hedgehog. "I had a rather…disturbing dream. I think those puppets are starting to get to me."

"What do you mean?" Eles asked, slowly reaching over to touch one of her puppets.

Gwindel sat back on the bed, holding onto his hedgehog like he would never let it go. "Those puppets…I had a dream about them."

"A dream?" Eles said, instantly perking up. "You dreamed about my puppets? What happened? What happened in the dream?"

Kohaku shook his head and looked over at Gwindel. Eles was curious now and they both knew it. There was no way she was going to let up on Gwindel. He should have never said anything….

Gwindel let out a loud sigh before answering Eles's question. "I dreamed that you, Eles, had magical puppets, all in the shape of us. Lucille put on the puppet shaped like you and he took on your form."

"Are you serious? You mean when he put the puppet on he changed into me?" Eles cried. She started to tap Lucille on his head, not noticing the look of annoyance on his face. "You turned into me! Isn't that funny?" She took Lucille's hand and put Eles puppet on it as if she expected him to change into her right then and there.

"Seems kind of scary if you ask me," Kohaku said. "I wouldn't want to turn into any one of you guys, no offense."

"I think it's amazing!" Eles said. Lucille sat up and stared at the puppet on his hand. He started to wonder what it would be like to have two Eles' around. Since he already acted enough like a child he figured that another Eles would be too much for the orchestra to handle. He was glad that the puppets Eles made held no magic whatsoever.

"He turned into me, right? Did he act like me or did he keep his own mind and just have my body?" Eles asked Gwindel, running to him and sitting down right next to him.

"He was still himself. He was only you in body." Gwindel said. He wished she would leave him alone but he knew that he opened the floodgates when he even mentioned having a dream involving the puppets. He really didn't want to get too deep into the dream considering how it annoyed him. However, it seemed there was no way to escape Eles's questions or enthusiasm and she wanted to know more.

"So why did I have magic puppets? Were you and Kohaku in the dream? Did you guys put on the puppets too? Did I put on a puppet? I would probably want to be Lucille! What else happened?"

Lucille chuckled as he thought about the time he told them about his own dream. Eles was acting the same way she did then: childish, curious, and asking more questions than one person could answer.

"I don't know why they were magic. I think you and I were magicians of some type because I had helped you make the puppets. We two were the ones to put the spell on them, although all of us were in the dream. You tried to warn Lucille not to put them on but he did and he turned into you. The rest of us weren't dumb enough to put them on."

"I resent that!" Lucille said. "I was probably just curious to see if it would work! It's not my fault at all that the puppets were indeed magical!"

"No one told you to put them on in the first place!" Kohaku said to him. "You should have listened to the ones who made the puppets. Gwindel just said that Eles told you not to put them on!"

"But how can I resist anything with magic inside of it!" Lucille was up and at Kohaku's side before anyone even had a chance to blink. He bent down to look Kohaku in the eyes. "Magic is all around us, but sometimes we're just too arrogant to notice it! It takes special people, like the Eles in Gwindel's dream, to capture it, put it in front of our faces, and force us to believe in it. The universe is full of magical things that we just don't take notice of, for example: love."

"Love?" Kohaku questioned.

Lucille nodded his head. "When two people fall in love, there is a sudden burst of magic! It's everywhere and it stays with them for the rest of their lives! Even if those two people are separated or feel that the love is gone the magic is still there. It will never dry out. Those two people have a connection and nothing can take it away; nothing can take away that magic."

Kohaku looked into the eyes of the singer and could see hope, excitement, and love. It shocked him how Lucille truly believed they could be lovers. Kohaku never had someone have so much faith in him. It almost scared him. He wanted to tell Lucille that he was right, that there was magic between two people when they fell in love, but it was never easy for him to say those meaningful things.

"Love can indeed be magic," Kohaku said. "but love, just like magic, can sometimes be an illusion."

It almost broke Kohaku's heart to see all of that hope and love instantly leave Lucille's eyes. It was as if he ripped the singer's heart right out of his chest and threw it in the ocean for the sharks to devour.

Lucille stared at him for only a moment longer before turning away from him to walk toward the door.

'_The wall! The wall!' _Eles thought. _'Kohaku is putting his wall back up! I've got to do something!'_

"Hey, Lucille!" Eles ran back to the table and sat down grabbing the Lucille puppet. "Why don't we try to reenact Gwindel's dream?"

She knew very well that he wasn't interested in playing games with her at the moment. Kohaku's statement just ruined the mood for everyone, though Eles was not about to let him get away with it. Lucille also needed to see that he didn't mean what he said. She knew she could cheer him up and it wouldn't take long for her to do it.

"I'm really not in the mood right now, Eles. I think I'll just relax in my room," Lucille was about to leave when suddenly there was a puppet of himself in his face.

"What? Are you trying to tell me that when I put on these puppets I will actually become the puppet? Now, that's the most absurd thing I've ever heard!"

Lucille turned his face away, trying his best not to smile.

"Oh, but it's true, sir!" Eles puppet appeared next to Lucille puppet. "I made them myself! Well, actually I had help from my friend but I was the one who came up with the idea. I'm warning you not to put them on!"

Lucille puppet left the view of the real Lucille and grabbed Eles child puppet. "I'll take on any challenge! After all, I am the leader of the Great Grand Orchestra!" Eles put Eles child puppet on the hand of Lucille puppet. She could tell that Lucille really wanted to play with her now. She walked over him again and handed him Lucille puppet which now had Eles child puppet on it's hand.

"Your turn," she said, while putting her own puppet and Kohaku puppet on her hands.

Lucille smiled as he sat back down at the table and began reenacting the dream.

"There, do you see? I'm still myself and I'm wearing this silly puppet. Nothing is different, nothing has changed," Lucille puppet said in triumph.

Kohaku puppet shook his head. "Actually, Lucille, you look and sound just like Eles. The spell worked."

"Of course it worked!" Eles puppet said. "I'm a great magician! All of my spells work."

"What are you saying?" Lucille puppet said quietly. He looked around for a mirror but there didn't seem to be one near him. He looked down at his hands and feet and noticed they were exactly the same. "I haven't changed a bit! I still look like me!"

Eles puppet walked to him and put her hand over his. "Well, to me you still look like you and to you, you still look like you, but to everyone else you look like me."

"What am I going to do?" Lucille puppet cried. He ran around in circles as if that would resolve the whole issue. He attempted to pull the puppet off of his hand but it wouldn't budge. It was stuck to him. "Why won't this thing come off? I can't spend the rest of my life looking like a little girl! And what about my voice? How will anyone ever hear me sing again if all they can hear is the voice of a little girl?"

"Calm down," Gwindel puppet entered the picture (on Lucille's spare hand.) "There is a way to break the spell. When the spell is broken the puppet will fall from your hand and you'll turn back to normal. I don't suppose you have a lover do you?"

"A lover?" The question seemed so out of place that it took Lucille puppet by surprise. He looked over at Kohaku puppet who quickly averted his gaze. Lucille puppet thought that perhaps it would be a little much to say they were official lovers. "No, I don't have a lover."

Gwindel puppet shook his head. "Now, that's too bad. The only way to break the spell is to be kissed by someone who truly loves you."

"That's how you break the spell?" Lucille puppet cried. "Oh, that's so ridiculous! Why couldn't you have made it something else, like having to go and pick a special flower or bake a cake or something? Now what am I going to do? This is all your fault, Kohaku!"

"My fault?" Kohaku puppet stared at Lucille puppet as if he were crazy. Where did he get the idea that it was okay to go around blaming people for his own stupidity? "How the hell is this my fault? You're the one who put the puppet on without listening to the warnings!"

"You should have stopped me!" Lucille puppet was starting to get hysterical. Kohaku puppet's anger dissipated as he realized how dire the situation really was, not to mention Lucille puppet seemed like he would burst out in tears at any moment. Kohaku puppet decided it would be best to take a deep breath and try to sort things out reasonably.

"You idiot! I hate you so much!" Lucille puppet cried as he smacked Kohaku puppet in the face.

"Are you kidding me? Why the hell are you blaming me for all of this? You're stupid and your arrogance got the better of you this time! This is no one's fault but your own!"

"It's your fault too because you won't help me!" Lucille puppet turned away, covering his face with his hands. "You're the arrogant one. I made a mistake and I'm sorry but you won't bother to help me."

The real Kohaku knew exactly where Lucille was going with all of that. Even Gwindel watched with an amused expression. Eles and Lucille really had a show going on. Gwindel thought that they took his dream one step farther than what it really was, but no one seemed to care. The two puppet masters were having fun and the audience was definitely entertained, although Kohaku did seem a little more on edge when Lucille puppet and Kohaku puppet started arguing.

"Why won't you help me? You know you can break the spell, Kohaku," Lucille puppet said sadly. Kohaku puppet really must have been a cold hearted bastard if wouldn't put aside his pride in order to save Lucille puppet. Saying 'I love you' is hard to do, but when the situation calls for it, it can be done!

Kohaku puppet just shook his head. "I can't save you. You need to be kissed by someone who loves you with all of their heart and I don't think I'm that person."

"How…can you say that?" Lucille puppet whispered. He was about to scream at Kohaku puppet with all of his might but he was rudely interrupted.

The door to the room opened and one of the maids of the baron walked inside, interrupting their little soap opera. She took notice of the puppets but quickly shook her head and looked at Lucille.

"The baron would like a word with you, madam. Afterwards, dinner will be served and then you all can return to your rooms for the night. If you'll please come with me, miss."

Lucille nodded and stood up, forgetting to take the puppets off of his hands. The maid thought about mentioning it but then changed her mind. She preferred not to bother with it. The other three watched as Lucille left the room. Kohaku stood up from his chair just to flop down on one of the three beds.

"Think they'll come get us when it's dinnertime?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"Probably," Eles said, staring at Kohaku puppet. She wished that maid didn't show up. She interrupted the puppet play right when it was getting to the part Kohaku needed to see! How was Eles, let alone Lucille, ever supposed to get Kohaku to understand his feelings if they kept getting interrupted? Eles was about to throw in the towel when she suddenly got a great idea. Why did the play have to end just because Lucille was gone?

"I hope Lucille gets his body back but I'm not counting on it," Kohaku puppet said.

Both Kohaku and Gwindel perked up when they heard Eles start to imitate Kohaku. Kohaku sat up in the bed and stared at her. Why was she still playing with those damn puppets? Her partner in crime was gone so why was she continuing with the play?

"Well, I doubt he ever will get his body back if you keep refusing to help him!" Eles puppet went up to Kohaku puppet and lightly hit him on the head. "Why do you think you aren't the one who is supposed to get his body back?"

"Because I'm not! The only one who can get his body back is his lover right?"

"It doesn't have to be his lover," Eles said. "It just has to be someone who is in love with him. And I know you want to deny it but the look in your eyes say otherwise."

Kohaku puppet scoffed. "You don't know what you're talking about. I'm not in love with him and I won't be able to change his body back to normal."

"DENIAL! DENIAL! DENIAL! DENIAL!" Eles puppet yelled, smacking Kohaku puppet in the head each time she said the word.

"Get away from me! Why is everyone hitting me today?"

"Why can't you just admit you love him? Can't you see that he loves you? Why is it so hard for you to just say it?" Eles puppet yelled.

"Because I don't want to love him!" Kohaku screamed. He stood up from his bed and stared at Eles, his face holding a mixture of rage and sadness. He started pacing back and forth in front of Eles and Gwindel. "We've traveled together for a long time and that's not because I wanted to! He forced me to join him! He forced me to play in his stupid orchestra and kill guignols and risk my life everyday just for him!" Kohaku was screaming at this point but Eles wasn't frightened. She knew he was yelling because he was confused and scared, not necessarily because he was mad. Eles could only assume he had never felt such emotions like love.

"I never wanted to join him in the first place. Traveling with him is my punishment and the only reason I'm with him and not in jail is because I have a talent for guignol-killing music. He's like the warden of a prison and I'm one of his prisoners. I can't even breathe without letting him know about it."

"So…you don't want to love him because you hated him at one point?" Eles asked.

"It's not that," Gwindel said before Kohaku could start yelling again. "Why would anyone want to fall in love with the person who imprisoned them?"

Eles didn't have an answer for him. She went with Lucille willingly so she didn't feel the same as Kohaku and Gwindel. If Lucille really did force them to join him then she could understand why they would feel resentment toward him. Add that resentment onto the fact that Kohaku probably doesn't understand how it feels to love and there's a recipe for disaster. However, to Eles it didn't matter if Lucille forced them to join or not.

"Love is love, Kohaku. It doesn't matter if you fall in love with your captor or your best friend. No one blames you for falling in love with him. It's just like Lucille said. Love is magic and you can't control either one of them," Eles said.

"I don't want to love him," Kohaku said quietly.

"But, Kohaku, there's nothing-"

"I don't want to be in love with him!" Kohaku interrupted, running past Eles to escape through the door.

Eles watched as he ran out. She suddenly felt extremely guilty for what she had done. She just wanted to show Kohaku that it was okay to love someone and that he didn't need to be afraid.

"Maybe I shouldn't have interfered," she said while looking at Kohaku puppet.

"It's not your fault," Gwindel said. He was still petting his hedgehog so his focus was more on it than Eles. "You just want to help Lucille. He's depressed that Kohaku won't tell him he loves him so it's natural that you, being his friend, would want to do anything to change that."

"I know," Eles whined. "But Kohaku is really upset. I don't know much about him so I don't know why it's so hard for him to love someone. I should have just left it alone. I hope I didn't ruin everything."

Eles was shocked to hear a chuckle come from Gwindel. "Trust me, my dear, it may seem like everything is destroyed, but I promise that things could never be better."

About an hour later another maid came down and gathered Gwindel and Eles for dinner. Either she didn't feel the need to ask where Kohaku had gone or she didn't realize he was gone. Regardless, dinner started without him. Lucille, however, did realize that Kohaku wasn't there. He looked down at Eles, who was sitting between him and Gwindel.

"Where is Kohaku?" He asked her.

"Oh, he left a little bit after you did," Eles answered. She didn't really want to tell him she had no idea where he was or that he left in a fit of anger. "What did you and the baron talk about?"

"Oh, we were just discussing the details of the job. Honestly, I think he's paranoid. There doesn't seem to be anything suspicious going on here, but we get paid either way," Lucille said, taking a bite of his meal. "And no, Eles, I'm not dropping the subject on Kohaku. Why did he leave? Oh, he must have been upset with me after our little stunt."

"No, no!" Eles cried. Everyone stared at the three of them for a moment. When the eyes turned away, she spoke in a quieter voice so she wouldn't draw attention. "He left…just to leave. He just wanted to take a walk or something."

Lucille looked down at Eles suspiciously. Eles wasn't exactly a great liar. She did indeed hide the fact that she was a girl very well, but she was never good at flatly telling a lie. Lucille looked over Eles's head to see Gwindel looking at him. The look the larger man gave Lucille said that Eles was absolutely lying.

"What happened, Eles? Why did Kohaku leave? And where did he go?" Lucille asked.

Eles suddenly found the food in front of her extremely interesting. She stared at her food and poked at it with her fork. She could feel Lucille's eyes burning into her head and she knew he wouldn't leave her alone until he got answers.

"She went ahead and proceeded with your little play," Gwindel told Lucille.

"Way to spill the beans, Gwindel! You snitch!" Eles yelled, once again directing attention to herself.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Oh, Eles, whatever am I going to do with you?" Lucille said, shaking his head. He looked at her, but luckily his face held a smile. Eles breathed a sigh of relief and continued where Gwindel had left off.

"I did go ahead and keep playing with the puppets. I guess I said some things that made him a little upset."

"Oh, really? Like what?"

Eles thought back to just a bit ago. "Well, he's in complete denial about how he feels. I just wanted to show him that it was ok to fall in love and that he shouldn't be afraid of it."

Lucille chucked. "You have a lot of wisdom for being so young, Eles. I know you're trying to help but Kohaku needs to realize for himself what his feelings are. There is nothing you nor I can do to persuade him one way or another," Lucille's smile turned into a sad one right in front of Eles's eyes. "After all, I can understand why he wouldn't want to be in love with me."

"You made him join you," Eles said.

"I did," Lucille said. "To him I'm a horrible dictator who takes joy in bossing him around and keeping him prisoner for my own entertainment. Would you want to fall in love with someone like that? No wonder it's been so difficult for him to admit his feelings."

"Well, no," Eles answered. "But you aren't like that, Lucille. You really care him. In fact, you care about all of us. He can see that and that's why he doesn't want to admit that he loves you. It means that aren't the horrible person he thinks you are and he doesn't want to be wrong!"

Another chuckle escaped Lucille's mouth, as well as Gwindel's. "No, Eles, I don't think that's it," Lucille said. "He doesn't really care whether he's wrong or right about me. I could be a saint but that doesn't change the fact that I took away his freedom. Anyone would hate someone who did that."

That statement couldn't have been more wrong. Eles didn't think of joining Lucille as taking away Kohaku's freedom. Kohaku should be grateful that he's with Lucille! He committed a crime so he should actually be in jail, not roaming the world in an orchestra, bringing music to helpless people and desperate guignols. Depending on the severity of the crime he could have suffered the death penalty. Any prisoner would kill to be in his position. Lucille didn't steal Kohaku's freedom, he gave it to him.

"He's lucky to have you, Lucille, he just doesn't know it. He will one day, though. I can see it," Eles said, looking at Lucille with a smile.

Lucille patted Eles on her head and thanked her. He didn't think she would ever understand how happy he was to have her around. She really did fill his life with joy and she always knew exactly how to cheer him up. He wanted to keep her around forever.

"I'm going to make Kohaku a plate of food. Take it to him, will you, Eles?" Lucille asked, as he started to gather food and put it on a plate.

"Of course I will, but aren't you going to come back to our room with us?" Eles asked.

Lucille shook his head. "I don't think so. I think I'll just stay in my room and rest for a bit. Make sure Kohaku eats, though I doubt that will be a problem."

Eles nodded and took the plate of food Lucille had prepared. "You can count on me!"

When dinner was over Gwindel and Eles immediately headed back to their room. Lucille had gone his separate way, up the flight of stairs to his own room. Even though the orchestra had done nothing in relation to their job, the day had been exhausting. He had spent all day playing with puppets with Eles, changing his voice, getting his feelings hurt by Kohaku, rescuing a hedgehog (which he didn't really do), trying to get Kohaku to understand how he felt, and then he had to deal with the baron. However, he concluded that if it hadn't been for Kohaku, the day wouldn't have been so tiresome.

"Who would have thought that making someone fall in love with you would be so difficult?" Lucille said to himself. He ran his fingers through his hair and finally made it to his room. He opened the door and to his surprise he found Kohaku lying on the bed with a puppet of himself on his hand.

"There you are. I've been waiting for you, you know?" Kohaku said aggressively.

"No, I didn't know!" Lucille said. He closed the door behind him, walked to the bed and sat on it. "What are you doing here? Eles told me you left a little bit after I did."

Kohaku nodded. "I did. I walked around the castle for a bit. I went to town and hung out there too. On a side note, I found nothing at all interesting or dangerous so I think that baron called us here for nothing. When I came back a maid told me everyone was at dinner so I just waited up here for you."

"You did make a stop to get your puppet," Lucille said pointing to it. He pulled his own puppet from one of his pockets and put it on his hand. It still has Eles child puppet on it.

"Lucille puppet is still under Eles puppet's spell. I guess to Kohaku puppet he looks exactly like Eles puppet," Lucille said.

"Indeed he does," Kohaku said, turning Kohaku puppet around to face Lucille and his puppet. "He's a little apprehensive about kissing him, especially considering he looks like Eles."

Lucille thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. "You're right. I suppose that would make someone hesitant to kiss him. But Lucille puppet is happy that Kohaku puppet was thinking about kissing him."

"He was thinking about it," Kohaku said. "But he isn't sure that when he kisses him, he'll turn back to his normal self. What if he just stays the same?"

Lucille looked at Kohaku and noticed his eyes were focused intently on his puppet. He didn't want to look at Lucille at all. Lucille could only imagine how awkward he must have felt. It was easy for Lucille to be lovey-dovey and affectionate, but the same could not be said about Kohaku. Still, the fact that this silly conversation was happening had to be proof that Kohaku had feelings for the singer.

"Lucille puppet doesn't think he'll stay the same," Lucille said. He lay on the bed and faced Kohaku who then couldn't help but look at him. Lucille smiled as he shoved his puppet in the violinist's face.

"Lucille puppet really wants to be kissed. Kiss him! Kiss him!"

Kohaku smirked as he made his puppet bring it's face closer to Lucille puppet's. A moment passed between the two hand puppets before Kohaku puppet suddenly pressed his lips against Lucille puppet's. A shiver went through each of them, but then the moment passed and Kohaku puppet pulled away.

"I knew you were the one!" Lucille puppet cried. He threw his arms around Kohaku puppet, planting small kisses all over his face. Eles child puppet (which Lucille had removed) had fallen to the bed in all of the excitement.

"You are my love! You saved me! I love you!" Lucille puppet cried.

"I love you too," said Kohaku puppet.

Everything seemed to freeze in that moment. Did Lucille hear correctly? Did those words really come out of Kohaku's mouth? It seemed so impossible; there was no way he actually said it. Lucille lowered his puppet and Kohaku puppet went with it. Suddenly the two non-puppets were staring each other in eye, waiting for someone to say something.

"Is that true, Kohaku?"

Kohaku looked around awkwardly before he decided he had no choice but to look at Lucille. "It's easy for a puppet to say those things."

"Oh," was the only thing Lucille seemed able to say. He shifted to lie on his back and stared at the ceiling. "Right…it was Kohaku puppet who said it."

"That's not to say he wasn't speaking for the both of us," Kohaku replied. The atmosphere of the entire room seemed to change as Lucille felt a smile begin to form on his face. He turned to look at Kohaku who now had his back turned.

"I think it's become pretty obvious how I feel about you," Kohaku said. "But I don't want to feel this way. I hated you when I first joined you. You forced me to join this orchestra against my will and we're working for your own benefit. We get nothing out of it except bail which we would have gotten in jail anyway. I never wanted to join you. "

"I know you didn't," Lucille said as he ran his hand through the other man's hair. He felt Kohaku tense up, but waited until he relaxed before he spoke again. "You didn't want to join me and neither did Gwindel. We're been through so much together though. I've grown close to the both of you and I'll sacrifice myself if it means keeping you safe."

"Don't say that. Don't sacrifice yourself for me. I'm not worth it."

"Oh, but you are to me."

Lucille moved to wrap his arms around the other man's waist. He pressed their cheeks together affectionately before planting small kisses on his face.

"I know you don't want to hear it but I've grown to love you so much. I don't even know how it happened. I feel like I woke up one morning and just realized how precious you are to me. It was so sudden, but I've accepted it. I love you and nothing can change that."

Kohaku did not know how to respond to that. His default response to anything was anger or violence but that would absolutely not work in this situation. He would have to resort to something else. This was all so new to him and he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. No one had ever told him those types of things before. When had he ever felt someone love him so passionately? Lucille truly was one of a kind.

"I guess I could say the same thing. I don't know when you started to become the only thing I could think about. It's kind of annoying actually. You're all I think about! When I'm talking to another person all I see is your face and I all I hear is your voice. You're everywhere!"

A giggle made its way to Kohaku's ears. "I'm pretty unforgettable, aren't I?"

"You are, unfortunately," Kohaku smiled as he turned his head to look at the singer. "You're unforgettable, and loud, and annoying, and troublesome, and strange, and you cross-dress, and-"

"You can stop anytime now," Lucille said, squeezing Kohaku's waist as tight as he could.

Kohaku actually let out a laugh as he moved his body so he could wrap his arms around Lucille's neck. Lucille still kept his arms around the violinist's waist, although he loosened his grip. Kohaku looked at Lucille and smiled while beginning to rub his hair.

"You're all of those things and you know it. But you're also amazing, and beautiful, and kind, and talented. I'll take the good with the bad especially considering that I probably have more bad than good. I'm pretty hard to love."

Lucille shook his head. "No," he said while gently kissing him on his lips. "You're not hard to love at all."

"Neither are you. After all, I love you."

Kohaku's watched as Lucille's eyes grew wide. They both just stared at each other before Lucille was finally able to get words out.

"Say that again please," Lucille asked in such a quiet voice that Kohaku had to strain to hear him.

"I love you," the violinist said again. "I love you even more than I can show. Even though I hated you once, I love you now. It's so strange to me but I can't fight it anymore. I have no choice but to accept that I do love you."

"I love you!" Lucille cried pressing his lips against Kohaku's. "I love you! I told you magic existed! You can feel it now, can't you? I love you so much, Kohaku!" He kept repeating that over and over, each time kissing Kohaku on a different place on his face.

Kohaku cupped Lucille's face in his hands to get him to stop with his random kisses. Lucille looked over and noticed that Kohaku puppet was still on Kohaku's hand. They had forgotten about those puppets. He laughed as he tugged on the hair of the puppet.

"Kohaku puppet loves me too," Lucille said while turning his head into Kohaku's hand so he could give Kohaku puppet a kiss.

"So does this mean we're officially a couple?" Kohaku asked.

"Oh…" Lucille hadn't thought about it. He was just so excited that Kohaku actually admitted how he felt. Well, he certainly wasn't going to say no to Kohaku's question.

"I think we are. Do you?" Lucille said.

Kohaku nodded. "I suppose we are," he leaned up to give Lucille another kiss on his lips. When he pulled away a sigh escaped his mouth. "Eles will never leave us alone…."


	4. Orchestra of Rain

**_Finally, chapter 4 has arrived! A friend has been waiting for this forever!_**

**_I really like this chapter. It isn't featuring a dream like the other chapters. This is more of an...interlude chapter. It's divided up into Gwindel and Eles chats, and Lucille and Kohaku chats. My favorite sections are the Gwindel and Eles chats. I do have to apologize a bit because Gwindel is a little OOC. My bad. _**

**_And this chapter, like most of mine, was inspired by a song by a band called MUCC. The name of the song is Ame no Orchestra (Orchestra of Rain). A portion of the lyrics are at the bottom ^_^  
_**

**_Just a warning this chapter does have some smut in it. ^_^_**

**_And with that, I hope you all enjoy! ^_^  
_**

"I imagine it will rain today." Lucile said.

"Where do you get that idea?" Kohaku asked. He was playing his violin, barely focusing on Lucille's statement. Both he and Gwindel looked out of the doors from the back of car where they kept the instruments. Rain seemed pretty unlikely considering how brightly the sun lit. Puffy white clouds floated across the blue sky, making the two men wonder how on Earth Lucille thought it was going to rain.

"Here, Gwindel," Gwindel was sitting on the piano seat, relaxing to the peaceful sounds of the violin. He thought about falling asleep until Lucille called to him. He looked at the singer who was holding an umbrella out to him. "I know it seems sunny now, but I feel like it's going to rain. Please go get Eles. She ran off somewhere and I would hate for her to get stuck in the rain and get sick."

Without a word, Gwindel took the umbrella and left the car, closing the doors behind him. The day had been so pretty that Eles decided she wanted to take a stroll outside while the others stayed in the car. Gwindel wasn't exactly sure where she went so he simply headed in the direction he had seen her go.

"Eles will be upset when you make her come inside. It's not going to rain," Kohaku said quietly. He was so focused on his violin playing that it seemed he was unaware he even spoke. Lucille smiled at him and thought it best to change the subject.

"Musicians are story tellers, you know? Eles and I both noticed how your story changed. Even Gwindel seemed like he was going to fall asleep to the sounds of your violin."

"My story?" Kohaku questioned. "Are you talking about the way I play? It hasn't changed."

"Oh yes, it has," Kohaku didn't like the smirk Lucille had when he said that. "Your playing has calmed down. The sounds your violin used to make were bitter and forlorn, kind of like how you were. Now though, your playing is strong and passionate. It has meaning to it now."

"Is that so?" Kohaku said, continuing to play. He pretended to ignore Lucille, knowing the singer could see right through him.

"Very so," Lucille leaned forward in his chair, trying his best to look Kohaku in the eye. "Your music changed because your story changed. Imagine that your instrument is a notebook! A journal, if you will. Gwindel's journal is his cello and his pen is his bow. Eles's piano is her journal and her fingers act as her pen. As for you, Kohaku, your violin is your journal and your bow is your pen."

"And you?" Kohaku said, still trying to not look at Lucille.

"Well, I sing so I don't need a notebook to write in. I talk, not write. Don't change the subject!" Lucille stood and smiled as Kohaku finally turned his eyes to him. "Your story used to be one of a man who was miserable. You were captured and taken prisoner after a horrible crime you committed. That is what you wrote in your journal; that is the story your violin told."

The violin's sound stopped abruptly as Lucille walked closer to Kohaku. He walked behind the dark haired man and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"The story in your journal, your violin, was a sad one and it made the sound it produced sad too. Since you and I became closer your story has changed. You now are writing a story of love and about a person who you care deeply for. The sound you make now is joyful and full of hope. That is what you are writing in your journal."

"I haven't noticed." Kohaku said, turning to face Lucille. He gently propped his violin and bow against the wall of the car and wrapped his arms around Lucille's waist.

"Hey, now," Lucille said with a grin. "One of us has to wrap their arms around the other's neck. I think it should be you."

"Me? You put your arms around my neck!" Kohaku argued.

"It seems we'll have to fight for it then," Lucille said. He captured Kohaku's lips in his own and the fight for dominance began.

* * *

The sun shone brightly in Gwindel's eyes as he walked through the grassy plains in search of Eles. He knew she wouldn't have strayed too far from the car. That would be reckless on her part, plus it would make Lucille worry.

He walked on farther, using the umbrella as a cane. He felt silly walking with it at all. The day was perfect; it wasn't even windy. Rain seemed impossible and yet there he was, his hedgehog laughing at him for having to walk around with that large, red umbrella.

"What was Lucille thinking?" Gwindel asked the hedgehog, who was sitting on his shoulder. "Rain on such a lovely day? Ridiculous."

After about thirty minutes of walking, Gwindel thought he heard a voice coming from the distance. He walked a little farther towards a tree and noticed a person sitting on one of the branches. That person was singing a song.

"Goodbye, today's sunshine. Goodbye, goodbye. Goodbye, today's sunshine. Goodbye, goodbye."

"Why are you saying that?" Gwindel asked looking up to the person on the tree branch.

Eles waved cheerfully at him before answering his question. "Well, I'm saying good bye to the sun. It's going to rain soon so I thought I would just say a little farewell."

"You think it's going to rain?"

"Well, you do too!" Eles said, pointing to the umbrella Gwindel was holding. "You even came prepared."

Gwindel just shook his head. "Lucille forced me to take this and bring it to you. He wants you to come back to the car so you don't get stuck in the rain. Not that it's going to rain…."

"Oh, it'll rain. I can promise that! Good thing Lucille knew it was going to rain. We have some time before it starts though! Let's hang out just a bit longer!" Eles said, jumping from the tree branch to the ground. "I'm sure Lucille sent you out so he could spend some alone time with Kohaku anyway." she added.

"I'm sure he did." Gwindel agreed.

Eles reached up to take the hedgehog off of Gwindel's shoulders. Gwindel got used to the girl playing with it. Normally he would never let anyone touch, let alone hold or play with his pet. However, he noticed that Eles really loved his hedgehog and the hedgehog seemed to love her back. Who was he to tear the two apart?

"Aren't you happy the two of them finally settled things?" Eles sat underneath the tree, holding the hedgehog in her lap. "The tension was starting to get unbearable. I'm glad Kohaku was able to get past that wall he built to see that Lucille really does care about him."

"Lucille is a frightening man," Gwindel said, sitting down next to Eles. "I couldn't imagine ever loving him."

Eles looked at Gwindel, but his face held no emotion at all. She was never able to read him or know what was going through his mind. "Do you hate Lucille?"

"Absolutely not," Gwindel said. "I'm very loyal to him and I won't ever betray him. He taught me a lesson, one I won't soon forget. I don't hate him, but there is no way I could ever love him. I don't think I'll ever be as close to him as you or Kohaku."

"He forced you to join him too. How was he able to make you guys join him? Did he bribe you or did he just make a deal with the jail to let you go?"

Gwindel remained silent. There was no way he was going to say anything about his past to Eles. He personally didn't want to and Lucille would never forgive him. He was surprised he let him be alone with her at all. The singer trusted him with her. He actually trusted him.

"I think we've all grown to care about each other, regardless if we wanted to or not. He managed to charm Kohaku and you've also taken quite a liking to him. I hated him at the beginning, just like Kohaku, but over time I suppose we all had no choice but to get along. I think we all would have killed each other if we didn't have some sort of tolerance for one another."

Eles completely agreed. She couldn't imagine having no choice but to stay with someone that she hated. Yet, she also thought that Lucille did no wrong. If Kohaku and Gwindel committed a crime, then Lucille was the one who passed judgment on them. They couldn't hate him for doing what he was supposed to be doing. That's how she saw it, but she also knew that she didn't have the entire story.

"Does Lucille have anything to do with the fact that you have this hedgehog?" she asked.

"Somewhat," Gwindel answered. He left it at that, knowing Eles was burning with even more questions. He wanted nothing more than to change the subject. Talking about his past was never easy for him and he didn't want to tell Eles the whole story, lest her opinion about him and Lucille change for the worst.

"You remember Lucille's dream where he and Kohaku were assassins? I thought that he would be the one to kill that woman in the dream."

Gwindel's plan worked. Eles immediately dropped the subject of his past and was now focused on the dream that was beginning of Kohaku and Lucille's relationship.

"Lucille? Why would he kill the woman? She insulted Kohaku, plus Kohaku is the type of person to throw weapons in people's faces."

"I thought he would be the one to kill her because he has this insatiable need to protect us. He's lost a lot of people and he doesn't like it when we're put in danger, even though it happens more often than not. I thought he would step in to make sure Kohaku would be okay after that woman's little prank."

Eles didn't think Lucille was very protective of Gwindel and Kohaku at all. He was extremely protective of her, but the other two men could take of themselves. She looked down at the hedgehog, wishing Gwindel would stop speaking in riddles and just tell her what he was thinking. She knew it was too much to ask and she could also tell that he really didn't want to be talking about certain things. The fact that he wouldn't answer any of her questions frustrated her.

"I think Kohaku took care of himself in that dream because he could. Lucille didn't interfere because he knew it would make Kohaku upset. He doesn't need to protect Kohaku. Now that they're a couple I think Kohaku will want to protect Lucille. I don't think he'll want Lucille to fight and put himself in harm's way."

Gwindel chuckled. "Lucille wouldn't want Kohaku to protect him. That means that Kohaku will constantly be putting himself in more danger than necessary. Lucille wouldn't want him to do that just for him. In fact, he'll probably want Kohaku to step back and not fight, just so he could protect him. I'm sure there was more to that dream than what Lucille told us in the car. I think in his own way, Lucille protected Kohaku from that woman's words and he'll continue to protect him now that they're in love."

Eles sighed and leaned her head against the tree. This was probably the most she's ever talked to Gwindel. She never imagined it would be this confusing and frustrating. Yet, she also felt like she was learning a lot more about him; not just him, but Kohaku and Lucille too. She was part of the group now and she felt it necessary to know as much as she could about them, even if it bothered them to talk about it. However, she knew how hard it could be to talk about one's self. She would never tell anyone about her brother, no matter how much someone begged her to. She could only figure the other three felt the same about their own pasts. One day they would open to her, if it was the last thing she ever did.

She looked at the sky and noticed the clouds had begun to change color. "It's almost that time."

* * *

Kohaku didn't know whether to be scared or turned on. After a long battle of tongues fighting each other and hands roaming in places they should never go, Lucille had been the one to claim victory.

The singer was now straddling Kohaku's waist, pinning his arms to the ground with his hands. He watched in amusement as Kohaku looked around frantically, trying desperately to free himself from his vulnerable position. Lucille never understood why so many people underestimated his strength. He knew he looked like a woman, but he still had the strength of a man. Looks weren't everything.

"Relax, Kohaku," Lucille said, after a few more moments of watching Kohaku. The violinist looked like a deer caught in headlights and Lucille couldn't help but laugh at him. "I'm not going to hurt you, love. Trust me."

Kohaku wasn't sure he liked the way Lucille said that last statement. He certainly couldn't remember a time he was ever so vulnerable. Even though it was Lucille who was on top of him he couldn't help but feel extremely uncomfortable. No one had ever gotten him on his back before.

"Enough playing, Lucille. Let me up," Kohaku told him. He knew the singer wasn't taking him seriously. That grin said it all.

"What's the matter, Kohaku? Are you scared?" Lucille teased. He moved his head so he could whisper in Kohaku's ear. "There's nothing to be afraid of. It's me," he began to gently nibble on Kohaku's ear.

"It's you that I'm afraid of. Let me up right now!" Kohaku tried to hide the fact that Lucille was doing a really good job of turning him on. He struggled a bit more, but Lucille's grasp was as hard as iron. There was no way he would be able to get out from under him. He gave a sharp gasp as the singer moved from his ear to his neck. A shiver went through his body as he felt Lucille's teeth bite at his flesh.

"Stop," Kohaku barely managed to whisper. "I'm serious, Lucille. Stop."

Much to his surprise, Lucille did stop. He even removed his hands from Kohaku's arms. The singer sat upright, still straddling Kohaku's waist. He stared at the violinist as if he was waiting for something to happen. Kohaku didn't know what to do.

"You struggle when I keep you down and yet you lie still when I let you go. You are one confused individual, aren't you?" Lucille smiled as he began to rub Kohaku's hair.

"No, I wanted you to stop." Kohaku said. It sounded like a lie even to him. He honestly didn't know what he wanted. He loved the feel of Lucille's light kisses and bites. They had never been that intimate before. Perhaps it was that intimacy that scared him, not to mention he never imagined it would be Lucille leading him through that experience. When did he become so vulnerable? When did he allow Lucille to take heart, mind, and body completely?

"Did you really want me to stop? Kohaku, I can see all of this is making you a little uncomfortable. Please, trust me. Let me in your heart and allow me to take over for a while," he took Kohaku's hand in his own and kissed it. "You can trust me. It's hard for you to let your guard down, but I promise if you do it just this once you won't regret it. I'll take care of you. I love you."

Kohaku just shook his head. "I…I should be the one to…."

Lucille smiled, knowing exactly what Kohaku was going to say. "No, you shouldn't be. I need to be the one in charge to show you that I'll take care of you; to show you that you can trust me. Also you need to understand that just because you aren't the one taking control doesn't mean you aren't strong. In fact it shows how strong you truly are by letting me take you. Just let me prove to you that you have nothing to be afraid of. If you start to get too uncomfortable with it then let me know. I'm not interested in making you do anything you aren't comfortable with."

Lucille watched Kohaku go over it in his mind. Kohaku was acting as if he was going to take all of his weapons away and shove him into a pit of guignols. Though, he supposed anyone who had their guard up as strongly as Kohaku did would feel that way. He was taking all of the power away from Kohaku and forcing him to be the vulnerable one, something that he was not used to or comfortable with. However, this was the only way for Lucille to get it through Kohaku's head that he should never feel uncomfortable with him. Lucille would never judge him and he would never take advantage of the times when Kohaku was most vulnerable.

"F-fine," Kohaku stuttered out. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. "Only because…because I love you too. I want you to know that I trust you with every part of me. I really do."

Lucille smiled as he kissed Kohaku's hand again and leaned down to kiss him on the lips. "That's all I needed to hear."

* * *

As hard as he tried, Gwindel couldn't help the grin forming on his face. "It's not going to rain!" he said with a laugh.

"Yes, it is! How can you even say that? Look at the sky!" Eles said, also with a smile on her face.

Gwindel briefly looked at the sky before shaking his head and focusing back on Eles. "It's not even remotely dark out, there's no wind, the clouds are white and puffy, and the sun is shining. What honestly makes you think it's going to rain?"

"Because it is! It just is. Lucille knows it's going to rain! I know it's going to rain! What about Kohaku?"

"He doesn't think it's going to rain."

"You two are crazy."

Another laugh escaped Gwindel's mouth. "You and Lucille are the crazy ones. I don't understand how the both of you think it's going to rain when it's so bright and sunny outside."

Eles looked at the sky. The branches of the trees they were under blocked her view a bit. She knew it was sunny now, but it was only a matter of time before dark clouds would take over the sky.

"Perhaps I think it's going to rain because Lucille thinks it's going to rain," she said.

"That can't be right," Gwindel said. "You were already saying goodbye to the sun when I got here. I told you Lucille thought it was going to rain after you told me you thought it was going to rain."

Eles nodded her head. "I guess so. I guess Lucille and I just have a strong connection! We have good synergy."

"I suppose," Gwindel said. Eles waited for him to say more, but nothing came out of his mouth. She knew there was more he wanted to say. She waited a bit longer, not wanting to push him, but it seemed he was finished speaking.

"And…?" Eles asked.

"And what?"

"What else? You were going to say more so say it! What else?"

"When you first joined us did you think we were bad people? Were you scared of us, Eles?"

Eles was taken aback. That was an unexpected question. "Well, I didn't think you guys were bad. I mean, you guys go around trying to save people with music. How can that be bad? I suppose Kohaku scared me a bit, but he's just intimidating because he's blunt and has a short temper. I'm not scared of him or any of you."

"So do you think that you're a bad person?"

"What? No, of course not! Where is this coming from, Gwindel?"

"What about Celes? Do you think Celes is a bad person?"

Eles froze. That was an even more unexpected question. She felt like she didn't have an answer. She wanted to say no because she knew she wasn't a bad person, but at the same time she wanted to say yes. A part of her wanted to scream out that Celes was a horrible person. Celes killed Eles; not only Eles, but she killed multiple children. She destroyed homes and families. She was the reason her hometown was overrun with guignols.

"I ask this because I was thinking of your dream; the one where Lucille was a prince and he had twin sisters, Eles and Celes. Celes tried to kill her brother in cold blood and take over an entire kingdom. Who knows what she would have done to Eles if her plan succeeded? Wouldn't you say Celes is a horrible person?"

Once again, Eles had no answer for him. She refused to look at him, staring intently at the hedgehog in her hands.

"Eles on the other hand loved her brother. She loved her twin too, but she had no idea what she was up to. Eles was content with the way things were. She didn't crave power. All she wanted was for everyone to be happy. Most people would say that Eles is a good person."

"What are you getting at?" Eles finally said.

"Well," Gwindel said, waiting for Eles to look at him before he continued. "Dreams are windows to the psyche. You said you and Lucille have a strong connection. He has a strong connection with Eles, so what do you think will happen when you go back to being Celes? Do you think that will change? Judging by your dream you obviously think Celes is a bad person. The Celes in your dream tried to murder her brother, much like how you think the real Celes did the same thing to her brother."

"No! Celes didn't mean to kill anyone! I didn't mean to kill anyone! And I don't think I'm a bad person! I just want to give my brother a chance to live!" Eles grabbed onto Gwindel's coat and rubbed her face in it, knowing how impossible it would be to hide her tears. "Celes has the rest of her life ahead of her while Eles…Eles's life was cut short. Perhaps, somewhere deep inside me, I think that Celes, that I am a horrible person. That's not how I really view myself though! Right now, Eles and Celes are sharing a body and until the time comes when Celes can be forgiven, Eles will be the one to live this life."

Gwindel didn't react at all. He knew she wasn't done and he waited patiently for her to calm down. He watched his hedgehog peck Eles in the face as if he were trying to make her feel better. The little creature then looked at Gwindel, seeming to ask him to do something to cheer her up. Gwindel was never good at doing those type of things. The hedgehog made a little noise and Gwindel rolled his eyes. He put one of his large arms around Eles, but it seemed that only made her cry harder. Gwindel had no idea what to do. He simply rubbed her back, hoping it was doing something to make her feel better. Just when it seemed like Eles would never stop crying, a few words came from her mouth.

"As for Lucille, he wants me to go back to being Celes. He thinks I've spent enough time as Eles. He wants to meet the real Celes, and talk to her, and play games with her. I think that when I go back to being Celes, our connection will be even stronger."

"I think that I got glimpse of Celes just now," Gwindel said. Eles looked up at Gwindel, her face stained with tears. Gwindel gave her a small smile. "I think I was speaking to Celes for most of this conversation. Even if it was only for a brief moment, it's nice to meet you, Celes."

Eles laughed and rested her head back on Gwindel. They stayed like that a bit longer until they heard a loud crash, making them both jump.

"Did you hear that, Gwindel?" Eles asked with a smirk. "Thunder."

* * *

Kohaku was holding Lucille like he would never let him go. Lucille didn't mind it, but he knew they would get nowhere if he didn't let him go. He was currently lying on top of Kohaku, kissing his neck. The other man had wrapped his arms around him, wanting to keep him as close as possible.

"Kohaku?" Lucille called to him.

"Yes?"

"I've been kissing your neck for twenty minutes. I'm sure you want me to take care of other things."

Kohaku opened his eyes, trying to think of an answer. Of course, he wanted Lucille to do more, but at the same time the thought of it made him nervous. He tightened his grip on the other man, making him laugh.

"Come on, Kohaku," Lucille kissed Kohaku on his lips. "Don't be afraid. I'll be gentle," Lucille fully sat up, forcing Kohaku to release him. He began to unbutton Kohaku's shirt, knowing exactly what awaited him. He had felt the piece of metal between them while he was lying on him, but it still shocked him to see it. Kohaku kept most of his weapons in a metal belt that he kept strapped around his waist. For a moment, Lucille forgot all about what he was doing and just stared at the multitude of murder devices. The belt held a colorful assortment of firearms, knives, blades, and even ammunition. Was that an explosive Lucille saw?

Lucille shook his head and knocked on the metal belt before looking Kohaku in the eyes again. "This won't do."

It seemed for a moment that Kohaku had no idea what Lucille was talking about. They continued to stare at each other until realization filled Kohaku's eyes. "Oh, right! Sorry, give me a second."

Lucille watched as he undid the latches on his belt one by one. The singer just shook his head. He started thinking that maybe they should just quit being an orchestra and commission his boyfriend to local militaries. They would probably get paid more and Kohaku would certainly have more fun, not to mention having him is pretty much a guaranteed win in any battle.

Lucille waited patiently for Kohaku to finish fumbling with his belt. When he did Lucille just smiled at him and set him gently back on the ground. "You won't need those weapons where I'm going to take you," he said seductively. He kissed Kohaku down his chest and stopped when he reached his nipple. He gentle blew on it before licking it, making Kohaku give a small moan.

"Make that noise again," Lucille said teasingly. "That was the cutest noise I've ever heard come out of you."

He looked up from Kohaku's chest, noticing a red tint forming on the violinist's face. "And you're blushing? Oh, Kohaku you are just so adorable! Almost as cute as your puppet," Lucille went back to licking Kohaku's nipple listening to the sounds of his moans. It was obvious he was trying to his best to not make any noises, though he failed miserably.

"You really are a sweet little thing," Lucille said, running his fingernails up and down Kohaku's sides. From the way Kohaku was shivering Lucille could tell he liked it. He kept doing it as he dragged his tongue down Kohaku's chest. He stopped at his belly button and spoke again. "I could just eat you up, Kohaku. I could eat every bit of you."

Kohaku's breathing quickened and he moved his arms away from him, trying to grab a hold of something. He smacked the ground hard when he found nothing and moved his arms to his head, grabbing at his hair. Lucille smiled as he began to undo the violinist's pants.

"I'll eat your lips and your tongue." Lucille said, undoing the pants as slowly as he could, while making sure Kohaku felt every one of his movements. "I'll eat your neck and your chest." He fully undid the pants and pulled them down. He wasn't surprised to see belts on Kohaku's thighs that held even more blades and firearms. The last thing the singer needed was a blade to fall out, cutting his head off. He quickly undid the belts, hoping Kohaku wouldn't get distracted by having his weapons removed. It seemed he didn't notice so Lucille went on speaking.

"I'll eat your thighs." He said while pinching one of Kohaku's thighs. Lucille moved forward again to lean down toward Kohaku's ear. "And I'll eat the extra special parts." He licked Kohaku's ear while gently rubbing his hardened member. Kohaku let out a loud gasp and Lucille took advantage of that. He grabbed his mouth with his own and started kissing him while still rubbing him. Kohaku moaned into his mouth and eventually wrapped his arms around his neck. Lucille didn't stay there too much longer. He let Kohaku go and planted kisses down his chest until he reached his waistline.

He began humming as he pulled Kohaku's boxers down. He smiled at how hard he had been able to make him. He hesitated for only a moment before fully taking Kohaku in his mouth. Kohaku's breathing turned into loud cries. He instantly arched his back and grabbed Lucille's hair. The singer dragged his teeth along Kohaku's member causing the other man to let out even more cries. Kohaku rested back on the ground and began clawing at the floor of the car.

Lucille kept going, the sounds of Kohaku's yells driving him wild. He sucked as hard as could, making Kohaku buck his hips, which almost made him gag. He managed to avoid doing so and decided to slow down. He let Kohaku go and licked the underside of his member while running his hands up and down Kohaku's thighs.

"Lucille…." Kohaku said in a husky voice.

Lucille gently licked Kohaku's head before taking him in fully, yet slowly again. He held his hips still to keep him from bucking and started sucking again.

"Lucille, I…." Kohaku didn't even know what he was trying to say. His mind was lost of all thought, pleasure taking him over completely. He never imagined Lucille would be able to take him to heights he never even knew existed.

"More. Just a bit more," Kohaku said, before letting out a loud cry. Lucille didn't hesitate to give him exactly what he asked for. He sucked harder and faster, making Kohaku grab his hair again. It was getting harder for him to keep Kohaku's hips from bucking. He waited a few moments before slowing down again, gently taking the time to lick every part of Kohaku's member.

"Lucille!" Kohaku screamed, sitting up fully and releasing at that exact moment. Lucille hadn't been expecting it but he quickly recovered and swallowed every bit of Kohaku's fluids. A shudder went through Kohaku's body and fell back down again, breathing heavily.

Lucille licked his lips before resting his body on top of the other man's and kissing his cheek.

"Did you like that?" he asked. A nod was his only response. Kohaku looked like he had been worn out. His eye lids were half closed; his arms spread out to his sides. Lucille congratulated himself on a job well done.

"I love you, dearest." He whispered to the dark haired man.

After a few deep breaths Kohaku managed to look Lucille in the eye. He gently tugged at his hair to bring their faces closer together. He planted a small kiss on the singer's lips before speaking.

"I love you too, doll."

* * *

Gwindel and Eles were now sitting back to back, the hedgehog sleeping on Eles's head. Eles put her entire weight on Gwindel, but it was no problem as he was able to keep her up. He didn't dare rest even a small portion of his weight on her, lest he accidently crush her.

It didn't take her long to get over her crying fit. Gwindel never intended to make her cry at all. He was just curious about what she thought of herself. If the Celes in her dream was such a terrible person, then what did she think of the real Celes? He knew she felt guilty for what had happened, but after speaking with her he knew she would be all right. When the time came she would make the transformation back to Celes and live the life she was supposed to live. Until that time came, he was more than content with the young lady he was with.

"I should have made a puppet of Hedgy!" Eles suddenly said.

"Hedgy?"

"Your hedgehog needed a name. I think Hedgy sounded perfect and he really seemed to like it too. I should have made a puppet of him. I could have attached him to the shoulder of your puppet."

Gwindel blinked a few times, taking in the new name of his hedgehog and the fact that Eles wanted to make a puppet of him. "What good would a puppet of him have done?"

Eles lightly hit him on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "The puppets I made did a ton of good. Imagine if we didn't have them. Kohaku and Lucille would still be at square one. They would just be casting nervous glances at each other, Kohaku would get mad anytime Lucille tried to bring up their relationship, and Lucille would be depressed. Without those puppets, things would be terribly awkward!"

"I think without my dream we would still be in that predicament. My dream helped more than those puppets did."

"That's not true!" Eles yelled, turning around only to stare at Gwindel's back. "If it weren't for the puppets then Lucille and Kohaku would have never been able to communicate!"

"If it weren't for my dream then Kohaku would never have realized how much Lucille cared about him."

"You didn't even tell us your whole dream! I had to make up most of it!"

"Doesn't matter. My dream was the inspiration for the little play you and Lucille put on. If it weren't for my dream you never would have thought of the play, thus Kohaku would have never come to terms with his feelings, and him and Lucille would not be a couple. It was the dream that did it, not the puppets."

Eles jumped up and took Gwindel's hat off of his head. He blinked before finally turning around to look at her. She looked rather triumphant, as if taking the hat had been the finishing blow to Gwindel's sound logic.

"Let's just say it was a combination of the two. Kohaku and Lucille had trouble talking to each other so they spoke through the puppets, making it easier on both of them. However, if it weren't for your dream, I would have never been able to use the puppets to show Kohaku that it was okay to be in love with Lucille. Fair enough?"

"Fair enough," Gwindel said. He noticed that Hedgy had managed to stay on Eles's head, though he had woken up. The little hedgehog looked around before taking a plunge to the ground below. Gwindel only stared as Eles realized what the hedgehog had done.

"What are you doing?" she yelled at it. It ran away from her and she went chasing it after it, though she seemed to be having a lot of trouble grabbing it. Gwindel just let out a sigh. He was surprised at how calm he was being. He supposed he had grown to trust Eles with his pet, even if she let it run away from her. Somehow he knew Hedgy would come running back to her, no matter how far he went.

Another loud crash shook the skies. Gwindel stood up and opened the umbrella, slowly following Eles and Hedgy.

"Looks like they were right," Gwindel smiled to himself as he felt raindrops hit the umbrella. "Goodbye, today's sunshine, a farewell long past due."

It didn't take too long for Eles to catch the hedgehog. She held the wet creature in her hands, only just noticing the car in the distance. Lucille was in there waiting for her. Not only did she want to see Lucille, but she was getting drenched in the rain.

"Let's go," she said to Hedgy as she ran to the car.

She forcefully thrust the doors open and stared at Kohaku and Lucille.

"What are you two doing?"

The two men stared at her, Lucille smiling from ear to ear. The singer was sitting on Kohaku's lap, awkwardly holding the violin in his hands.

"I was just trying my hand at the violin! I should probably stick to singing," he dragged the bow across the strings causing a horrendous sound to come from the instrument. Kohaku immediately took the bow away from him, staring at him as if he were crazy.

"What about you?" Lucille asked with a laugh. "Why are you wet? I thought Gwindel brought you an umbrella."

"He did!" Eles climbed into the vehicle and began to remove her wet jacket. "I lost Hedgy so I had to run after him. Gwindel didn't want to keep up with me."

"Hedgy?" Kohaku questioned.

"It's not that," Gwindel said climbing into the car and shaking out the umbrella. He needed to defend himself from Eles's wrong accusation. "You ran off so quickly, I didn't even have a chance to try and keep up."

Lucille stood from Kohaku's lap, looking around the car for some new clothes for Eles. He smiled at her, somehow knowing that she would wind up coming back to him soaking wet. Gwindel didn't shut the doors so Lucille looked outside to the pouring rain. He didn't realize it would be that bad.

"What am I going to do with you?" he said while pulling a shirt from a box, the smile remaining on his face. He was having a lot more fun than he should have been.

"You say that everyday," Eles told him with a laugh. "What did you two lovebirds do today?"

"We made love right where you're standing."

"Lucille!" Kohaku screamed.

Eles laughed as she took the shirt from Lucille, waiting for him to find her a pair of pants. "I expected as much."

Kohaku just shook his head, hoping his face wasn't turning as red as he thought it was. He was about to yell at Lucille again when suddenly his eye started to hurt. He gave a sharp gasp and held his hand to his face. Lucille immediately stopped looking for clothes and focused all of his attention on Kohaku.

"Is your eye hurting?" he asked.

"Yeah, they're close," Kohaku answered.

Lucille looked out the doors into the distance. The rain was pouring even harder, the thunder was clapping, the wind was furiously blowing, and lighting was striking in every direction. It wasn't exactly the ideal weather for guignols, but that didn't mean they wouldn't show up.

"Positions everyone," Lucille said. He walked as close to the doorway as he could without getting wet. He stared as lightning struck again, only just making out the outlines of a group of guignols. An even bigger smile started to form on his face. His back was to the other members of the orchestra, but he knew Eles was sitting at her piano, Kohaku held his violin, and Gwindel was ready with cello; all of them prepared to take on the coming danger.

"The Grand Orchestra of Rain will play a tune for the wet and shriveling guignols. Perhaps they'll be lucky and find a special person to share an umbrella with either here or in another life."

And with that Lucille opened his mouth and began to sing.

_Into a purely white notebook I start to write down my memories of you (with a pen)_  
_Drip, drop, one, two_  
_Outside the gently shaking window_  
_The weather forecast predicted rain, did you take an umbrella as you went out?_  
_"Goodbye today's sunshine", I repeat several times_  
_Ordinary days, orchestra of echoes of the tunes rain plays_

* * *

_**Goodbye, today's sunshine, a farewell long past due...**  
_


	5. Prologue of Hometown

**_And I'm back. Another chapter of Dream On is here. However, I have some unfortunate news. This chapter ends on a cliffhanger. Yes, I'm warning you ahead of time that this chapter is a two parter. While writing this chapter I realized it was getting so long that it actually could be it's own separate story. I used my judgement to decide whether or not I should split it and I did. It won't take my long to come out with the next chapter so...just hold on ^_^_**

**_So, this chapter is supposed to be horror. However, I think it's less horror and more...just sad really. The original inspiration for this chapter was Dead Space, but then it changed to Silent Hill. I even found myself putting elements from SH without even meaning to in the story. I was very emotional while writing this so I hope you feel something while reading it whether it's fright, sadness, or even anger. _**

**_And without much further ado here it is, chapter 5 of Dream On. Enjoy! ^_^_**

* * *

'_I'm so sorry. Oh god, what have I done? It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Oh, I'm so sorry. Don't forgive me. Please, don't forgive me. I'm so sorry!' _

Kohaku sat up, clutching his chest and gasping for breath. He took in his surroundings, realizing he had never left the safety of the car.

"Lucille…?" he whispered.

"Are you okay, Kohaku? Did you have a nightmare?"

Kohaku turned around to see Lucille gazing at him with a concerned look. The violinist had fallen asleep on the singer's lap. He wasn't sure how long he was out, but he must have startled Lucille when he suddenly woke up.

"No, I uh…I'm fine. I'm fine." Kohaku said.

"Are you sure? You had a bad dream, right? Do you need to talk about it?"

"I don't remember my dream. It's okay. It was just some dumb nightmare," Kohaku told him.

Eles peered over from her place in the front seat. "You don't remember it? You only woke up a second ago. How could you forget it already?"

"Eles, please," Lucille said in a stern voice. "Kohaku, are you sure you're all right? You look like you've seen a ghost," Lucille held Kohaku's hand tightly. "You're even shaking. Kohaku…."

"I'm fine, Lucille." Kohaku ran his free hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "I just had a nightmare. Nothing to be worried about," he finally turned to face Lucille fully and pulled him closer to him. "It was just a dream that I don't even remember. I'm over it now."

"If you say so," Lucille said while leaning his head on Kohaku's shoulder. He wasn't convinced that Kohaku was really okay. Kohaku was still shaking and he was still breathing heavier than he should have been. That must have been a really horrid dream if it was enough to frighten him.

Kohaku closed his eyes as he tried to remember his dream. He wasn't lying when he said he didn't remember it. The only part he could remember was Lucille's voice apologizing for something. The singer had sounded desperate and melancholy and even though Kohaku didn't want to admit it, it scared him. He had never heard Lucille sound so distressed and frightened. What had Lucille done that he had to apologize like that?

"The rain hasn't stopped?" Kohaku asked, gently rubbing Lucille's hair. He changed the subject, hoping everyone would forget about it. He watched the raindrops pour onto the windshield and was surprised Gwindel could drive in this weather; even with the wipers moving as fast as they could, it was difficult to see even three feet in front of the car.

"Did you think it would?" Eles said. "It's been raining for a week now. I'm ready to see some sunshine again. I'm tired of the rain."

"Nonsense, Eles, the rain is a beautiful thing," Lucille said. "It can bring life or destroy it depending on how much water decides to fall from the sky. Without rain we wouldn't have any trees or grass or rivers or animals. In turn we humans would never be able to survive without it. It's Mother Nature's gift to us and we must accept it fully."

"It's just so dark though! It's sad!"

Eles jumped as Lucille's face suddenly appeared next to hers. He leaned forward from the back seat to the front and smiled at her.

"There's beauty in everything, Eles. Imagine how happy the fishes and frogs are. Imagine how excited the flowers are. And I'm sure there's someone out there who is dancing in the rain right now, cleansing their self. The rain washes away all traces of anything dirty or unwanted. It's refreshing and it brings with it a chance to try things again. It can wash away our sins and it gives the opportunity to realize what we've done and begin anew."

"If it were that easy to wash away our sins, wouldn't we have done it a long time ago?" Gwindel interjected.

"But it is that easy, Gwindel," Lucille said turning to face him. "However, sometimes it takes more than once to get things right. The rain is forgiving though, and gives us as many tries as we need to make sure we get it perfect. We just haven't found our perfect solution yet, Gwindel. That's why we're on this journey, with the rain as our constant angel of mercy."

Eles shook her head. "I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about, Lucille."

"Don't try to force yourself to understand. Just relax and when the time comes you'll understand fully and forgive yourself for your sins. Until then, take your time and create a masterpiece."

Eles smiled to herself. As much as she loved Lucille, she sometimes would get confused at the things he would say to her. He had an extravagant way of talking and once he got started it was hard for him to stop. However, as confusing as his speech was, Eles took comfort in it. Somehow the things he said always warmed her and she felt like she was capable of anything.

"Sure thing, Lucille," she looked at him with a huge grin and he grinned right back at her.

"Lucille…."

Kohaku called out to Lucille, making the singer instantly fall back into his seat. Lucille's smile faded as he looked at his lover.

"Are they close by?" Lucille said grimly.

Kohaku held his head with both hands and started breathing harshly. "It hurts, Lucille," he said in a strained voice.

Lucille quickly grabbed his boyfriend around his shoulders and pushed his face into his chest. He had seen Kohaku's eye hurt many times before and he could always tell when it was at it's worst. This was one of those times.

"Just relax, sweetie. It's okay. We can get rid of them so your eye will stop hurting. Are they close? Are they anywhere nearby?"

"There's too many of them," Kohaku said in between gasps. "We need to turn back. I can't…." Kohaku trailed off, his moan muffled by Lucille's shirt. Lucille held him even tighter, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop the pain. They were too close to their destination to turn back, not to mention the storm would make turning back that much more difficult.

"We can't turn around, Kohaku. We're almost to the city so when we get there-"

"No! No, Lucille, we need to turn back! There's so many! I can feel it! We can't keep going! Stop the car!"

Gwindel and Eles exchanged nervous glances. Gwindel took a deep breath and shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. We're here. This is the city, Lucille," he said, bringing the car to a stop.

Lucille looked through the windshield into the distance. It was nearly impossible to see anything with the pouring rain, but there was indeed a city in front of them. Kohaku was too late. They had already made it to the city. They had reached the point of no return.

"We can't turn back, Kohaku. This is it. We're at the city."

"No!" Kohaku screamed. He pushed away from Lucille, just to fall against the side wall. He couldn't even sit up straight due to the pain in his eye. "Don't leave the car. I can feel them. Oh my god, the pain. It hurts so much, Lucille! There's so many. We have to get out of here!"

Kohaku used his nails to scratch at his eyes, but Lucille quickly grabbed his arms to prevent that. The last thing they needed was for Kohaku to accidently scratch his eyes out.

"Kohaku, you need to calm down," Lucille said to him firmly, but full of concern. He leaned closer to him and kissed him gently on the cheek. It didn't seem to have any effect. Kohaku kept his eyes shut, still yelling for them to get as far away from the city as possible.

"Lucille, we don't have to leave. We can just stay in the car. I think it would be dangerous for us to go out there without being able to see guignols from here." Eles said, keeping her eyes on Kohaku.

"We need to leave," Kohaku said quietly. Lucille felt the strength leave Kohaku since he quit fighting to get his arms back. His breathing had suddenly slowed down dramatically as well and his face had turned a pasty white color.

"Kohaku?" Lucille said gently.

Kohaku fell forward into Lucille's arms.

"Kohaku!" Lucille screamed.

"It hurts…we can't stay…we need…to leave…."

"Kohaku?" Eles said quietly, her eyes wide and full of fright. "Is he okay, Lucille? What's wrong with him?"

Gwindel also turned around in his seat and stared at Kohaku for a moment. "If the pain was bad enough to make him pass out then perhaps we should heed his warning."

Lucille didn't look at either of them as he moved Kohaku's body so his head was resting was on his lap. Even unconscious, Kohaku was still noticeably in pain. Each breath he took had a tiny cry accompanied with it; agony seemed to be etched on his face. Lucille didn't know what he should do. Should he stay at the city and investigate? If it were that bad then someone would absolutely have to investigate. However, Kohaku's safety was more important to him than anything. He looked at the windshield again and watched the rain fall from the sky. There was no way they would be able to turn back even if they wanted to.

"We can't turn back," Lucille almost wanted to cry as he said that. "We have to stay and investigate. If there are that many guignols here that it was enough to make Kohaku pass out then we need to inform the queen."

"But how are we supposed to go out there and defend ourselves if we don't even know the number we're up against?" Eles asked.

"Gwindel and I will go. Eles, you stay here and watch over Kohaku. All we have to do is get a good enough glance at the city. If we see that there are more guignols then we can handle then we'll come back to the car and leave. We can send a message to the queen to have this city destroyed."

Eles hesitated to respond. Lucille would always listen to her, but the situation was different this time. It was time for him to step up and be a leader and as leader he made the only decision he thought was reasonable. Eles had no place to argue with him.

"Okay, Lucille. I suppose that's all we can do. You two be careful out there, please," Eles said. She climbed from the front seat to the back seat and stared at Lucille as he began to move Kohaku so he could leave.

"Stay low, Eles. Stay on the floor," he grabbed a blanket they kept in the back seat and covered Kohaku with it. "Keep him covered so the guignols don't see him. Stay out of sight."

"I understand."

"I'm so serious, Eles. If Kohaku wakes up tell him to stay here. Tell him if he leaves you alone I'll kill him. Both of you need to stay hidden until Gwindel and I come back."

Eles nodded, almost frightened at how serious Lucille was being. She assumed he was probably just distressed at Kohaku passing out and for having to go against his lover's wishes. She laid her body as well as she could on the floor of the car and stayed there, showing Lucille she intended to do exactly as he told her.

"Good girl," he said to her. "Gwindel, let's make this quick."

Eles watched on like a puppy watching it's owner leave for work. The door slammed shut behind the two men and she closed her eyes tightly saying a silent prayer for her friends.

"Please, be safe."

* * *

"_It wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to end this way. Oh, Kohaku, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. How can you ever forgive me?"_

"Lu…."

"_I can't stop crying. What have I done? I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'M SORRY!"_

"LUCILLE!"

Kohaku shot up, screaming his lover's name. He looked frantically around, trying to remember where he was and what he was doing. He instantly recognized the car, but there was no one but him in it. He noticed a blanket covering his body and roughly threw it off of him.

"Lucille! Lucille, where are you? Are you there? Lucille!"

He quickly opened the door and jumped outside into the pouring rain. He looked around and growled angrily. He wasn't able to see very far in front of him and that would be no help in trying to find Lucille. He did, however, notice the city and started to run in that direction. It was then that he remembered everything that had occurred before. His eye had been hurting like crazy. He begged Lucille not to continue on to the city.

"The stupid vocalist did though! Lucille…why didn't you listen to me?" He almost stopped running as a terrifying yet comforting thought hit him.

His eye was no longer hurting.

If his eye wasn't hurting then it meant there were no guignols around. Kohaku picked up his pace as he ran for the city.

"There were hundreds of them before. I could feel it. There's no way so many guignols would just up and disappear!"

He thought for a moment that maybe Lucille, Eles, and Gwindel had taken care of them. Maybe they had managed to destroy every single one of them and were now resting somewhere in the walls of the city.

"Yeah, that's it. They're resting. They killed them all while I was out. I just got to go get them now."

Kohaku didn't believe that for a minute. Lucille's voice was still ringing in his head.

"_I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. What have I done? I'm so sorry." _

"I don't know, Lucille. What did you do?" Kohaku finally made it to the city. He didn't know where to begin his search. The city was massive and there were so many places for three human bodies to be.

Kohaku stopped short as the thought crossed his mind. "Not three human bodies…three humans. Just three humans."

Three human bodies….

"Just three humans!" Kohaku screamed at no one. He ran into the nearest building, closing the door behind him. It looked like it was a hotel. He pulled out his gun just in case there were any guignols and began checking all the rooms.

"Lucille, are you there? Lucille?" Kohaku desperately cried out to his lover as he checked the hotel. However, there was nothing there. Not so much as a mouse was crawling around.

"Lucille, where are you?" Kohaku said, sitting on one of the beds. He closed his eyes to try to calm himself down when he heard a voice. His eyes shot open and he began to tremble, slowly looking behind him.

'_Don't ever forgive me….'_

* * *

"Do you see anything, Gwin?" Lucille called to him when they made it to the city. So far on their way to the city they had only seen one guignol, which they had easily taken care of. Now that they were inside the city it seemed that it was deserted.

"I don't see anthing." Gwindel told him.

"Then what was it that was making Kohaku's eye hurt?"

"I don't know. Perhaps they are deeper in the city?" Gwindel said.

"Perhaps. But there's also another problem. Where are all the people? There's no one here, Gwindel. It seems like there's not a soul alive in this city."

"I do wish I had an answer for you, Lucille. I agree; this is very strange. Perhaps we should go back to the car and call for back up?"

"Oh, we're already here. Let's just get this over with." Lucille knew that if they asked for back up no one would show up. This orchestra was the back up. If they weren't up to handling something there was little chance that the queen would send her soldiers to that danger. Besides, Lucille needed to figure out what it was that caused Kohaku's eye to hurt him so much. There appeared to be no guignols around, but that would be the only reason for Kohaku's eye to hurt.

"Let's try that hotel first. Let's see if there's anyone inside," Lucille said, making his way to the hotel.

He opened the door and looked inside. It seemed to be empty. There was no one at the desk, all the tables and chairs were clear…it was as if no one had lived there in a while. Just when Lucille had finally accepted the fact that he and Gwindel were alone in the city he heard a cry from behind him. He quickly turned around, ready to destroy anything that came at them, however that was not necessary.

"What did I say?" He just about screamed. He ran into the rain again to meet Eles, grabbing her roughly by her arm and bending down to look her in the eyes. "I said to stay in the car! Did I not say to stay in the car?"

"I know, but I thought that it would be better if there were three people fighting the guignols instead of just two and Kohaku certainly isn't waking up anytime soon so you don't have to worry about him! If we can find those guignols and kill them then Kohaku won't be in so much pain! Right? Right?" Eles said as quickly as possible.

Lucille caught every word of what she said and closed his eyes to keep from getting angry. He really wasn't the type of the person to get mad, but he was not happy with the fact that Eles threw herself into danger without even thinking.

"I asked you to stay in the car and watch Kohaku." Lucille said, after taking a deep breath. "Instead you ran headfirst into what could have been a swarm of guignols with no protection and no one to help defend you. Now, the three of us are here and we still need to investigate this town, but Kohaku is in the car by himself and unconscious. He can't protect himself if he's unconscious, Eles."

"I know, I just…." Eles drifted off as she couldn't think of an explanation for her actions. She looked to Gwindel for help, but he just turned away from her. He wasn't about to get in between a mother yelling at her defiant and heedless child.

"I'm sorry, Lucille. I wasn't thinking."

"You really weren't. But what's done is done. Let's hurry up and investigate the city so we can get back to Kohaku and get you out of danger." Lucille made his way back to the hotel, dragging Eles behind him. Gwindel walked passed them and patted Eles on her head, hoping it would make her feel a little better about her reckless actions.

However, as Gwindel watched Lucille enter the hotel he thought the singer had no right to yell at Eles for being reckless.

"All righty, hotel! If anyone is in here come out now! We're officially on a time limit!" Lucille yelled as loud as he could, hoping to get some type of response. He had an unconscious boyfriend in the backseat of the car and a little girl who had no right being there in the first place. The time for games was over.

* * *

Kohaku ran from the hotel as quickly as he could. He thought if he could escape from the hotel then Lucille's voice would disappear. He was more than wrong. The singer screamed words of regret louder than the thunder itself. He could hear it so clearly; it was as if Lucille was literally in his head.

"Lucille…Lucille, if that's you then please stop!" he cried as he continued to run. He hoped to whatever god that it wasn't him. He hoped that his wasn't in so much distress, but part of him knew the truth. He knew that it was Lucille screaming for forgiveness, apologizing for some terrible thing that had happened.

'_I'm so sorry. It wasn't supposed to be this way. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'_

"SHUT UP!" Kohaku screamed, firing his gun into the air. To his surprise the voice stopped. He looked around cautiously, wondering if the voice would suddenly come back. He jumped as he did hear something. It wasn't as loud as it was before, but it was still fully audible. There was no denying the way the voice filled the air around him.

"_She's so sad. I didn't mean for it happen. I didn't mean it. I'm so sorry."_

"Lucille…." Kohaku said in barely a whisper, still looking around hoping to see his lover.

"_I fear she's mad at me. She blames me. I'm so sorry. What have I done? It wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to be like this! I'm so sorry."_

"Sorry for what?" Kohaku screamed into the rain. "What happened? Lucille, are you there? Where are you?"

"_I'm so sorry. I can't right the wrong I've done. It's too late. It's far too late."_

"Please, Lucille, where are you? Are you there? Please, tell me where you're at. I'll come for you! Where are you?"

Kohaku listened as closely as he could, but there was only silence. And then….

"_The strip club…."_

Kohaku jumped as he heard a whisper in his ear. He turned around swiftly only to be met with more wind and rain. He knew it was Lucille who spoke to him. It was Lucille who whispered in his ear. It had to be. He didn't understand why Lucille told him to go to the strip club, but he didn't hesitate to begin running deeper into the city. He didn't know his way around and the rain was making it difficult to see any kind of sign indicating what a building was, but after running for about fifteen minutes and busting open a few doors he had finally found the building he had been looking for.

Heaven's Night, the town strip club. Kohaku walked in, his gun poised and ready to fire. From the looks of the place it appeared to not have been used in a while, just like the hotel. The floors and tables were dusty, even the wine bottles behind the bar looked as if they hadn't been touched in years. It seemed everything in this town from the hotel to the strip clubs was completely desolate.

Kohaku walked slowly so as not to alert any possible guignols that he was there. His eyes browsed through the club and he thought he saw a figure leaning against one of the poles on the stage. He kept his gun up and began to walk closer to it. He couldn't decipher it was a guignol or not. The club was dark and no light could from the windows due to the rain. He was debating whether or not to call out to the being when the figure spoke.

"Don't give up! We've come too far! Swallow your fear!"

Kohaku eyes grew wide as he recognized the voice.

"Be prepared for anything. Swallow your fear and don't give up!" the figure continued to speak.

Kohaku's arms dropped to his sides. He stood in disbelief.

"Gwindel?"

The figure instantly looked at Kohaku when he called to him. There was no denying it. That person was indeed Gwindel. Yet, Kohaku wasn't sure if Gwindel was okay. The things he was saying weren't making any sense to him.

"Are you okay, Gwindel?" Kohaku asked, keeping his gun out as he continued to walk towards the stage.

"Don't give up!" Gwindel cried. "We've come too far, much too far, to turn away. We can't turn back now!"

"Gwindel, what are you talking about? Where are Lucille and Eles? Are they with you?"

Gwindel slid down the pole to knees. He covered his face and quickly shook his head. Kohaku was close enough to see that his clothes had been tattered and torn. His guignol arms were clearly visible and his shirt barely stayed on. His hat was long gone and it seemed his hedgehog was too. That made Kohaku worry more than anything. Gwindel would never let his hedgehog out of his sight.

"Be prepared for anything," Gwindel repeated. "Be prepared for anything. Don't give up! Swallow your fear!"

"Gwindel, please talk to me. I don't understand what you're going on about." Kohaku begged him.

"There's something wrong!"

Kohaku stepped back a bit as Gwindel suddenly screamed at him. His fighting instincts kicked in and he readied his gun again, looking back and forth from the windows to the doors. Nothing seemed to be different and his eye didn't hurt so he knew there weren't any guignols around. He kept his back turned to his friend, his gun outstretched in his hands.

"I don't see anything, Gwindel. Are you sure you saw something?"

"There's something wrong," Gwindel said again. "The worst is yet to come."

"What?"

Kohaku barely had time to get the word out before he was knocked to the ground, his gun falling from his hand. He turned his head enough to see Gwindel come at him. The larger man picked Kohaku back up and threw him into a table, breaking the table right in half.

"What the hell? Gwindel, what the hell is wrong with…." Kohaku trailed off as he sat up and caught a glimpse of Gwindel's face.

"Oh no," he whispered as he saw the cracks growing wider on Gwindel's face and chest. His body clanked like wood as he made his way to the gunner.

"No, no! Gwindel, what happened to you?" Kohaku stood and pulled out another gun from his chest pocket, aiming it at Gwindel.

"Swallow your fear! Don't give up!" Gwindel said as he ran toward Kohaku full force. The smaller man just managed to dodge his attack. He found it hard to move and he felt himself start to get nauseous. He didn't want to even look at Gwindel, but he knew he had to. He knew what needed to be done.

"Gwindel, don't. It's me! It's Kohaku! You know me. Don't do this."

"Be prepared for anything! Swallow your fear!"

Kohaku shook his head, knowing his attempts to reach his friend were futile. He wanted to sit there and let Gwindel take him, but he knew he couldn't let that happen. He pushed his guilt, sadness, and nausea down as he jumped over the counter and grabbed the nearest wine bottle to him. He quickly jumped back over the counter again, missing a swipe from Gwindel. He ran to the door and held the wine bottle in front of him, pressing his gun to it.

"Be prepared for anything! Don't give up! Swallow your fear!"

Kohaku nodded and waited for Gwindel to get closer to him. "Okay, Gwin. Whatever you say."

When he felt Gwindel was close enough to him he shot his gun, glass and alcohol flying everywhere. Flames erupted when Kohaku shot the gun, landing on both men. Gwindel instantly fell to the ground, his body covered from head to toe in flames. Kohaku instantly ran form the club into the rain, dowsing the small amount of flames that managed to get on his shirt and jacket. He had quickly backed away when he shot the gun, keeping the amount of alcohol landing on him to a minimum.

He ran as far and as fast as could, though running wouldn't stop him from always hearing the screams Gwindel let out as his body burned.

'_I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean it. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I'm so sorry.'_

Kohaku shook his head as he continued to run, wishing for the first time since he entered the city that he didn't hear Lucille's voice. He closed his eyes and kept running; he ran as far as he could from the club. He kept running when he a thought occurred to him. He still had to make sure Lucille and Eles were okay. Gwindel was long gone, but perhaps there was a chance that Lucille and Eles had managed to escape. He wondered if the disembodied voice of his beloved could help him locate them.

"Where are you, Lucille?"

There was no response.

Kohaku stopped running and leaned against the wall of a building. Perhaps rewording the question would get him some answers.

"Where should I go next?"

He waited for a minute before a response came to him. He flinched as someone whispered in his ear, though there was no one around. He had his answer.

'_The school….'_

* * *

Lucille, Eles, and Gwindel looked all around the hotel. It was completely void of any sign of life. There were no guignols or people residing there and it looked like it had been that way for a while. Lucille was beyond confused. He had been told that suspicious activities, possibly involving guignols, had taken place here. Where did that information come from if there were no people in the town?

"Do you want to go back, Lucille? There doesn't seem to be anything here," Eles said.

The three of them walked out of the front doors of the hotel into the pouring rain. Lucille shook his head and scanned the streets for movement of any sort. "No, Eles. I think we should keep looking around. Just because there was nothing here doesn't mean there's nothing in the entire town. Something made this city suspicious and that wouldn't be possible if there was no one here."

"How does a whole city just disappear? This was obviously a bustling city considering all of the buildings and how huge the hotel is. Yet even with all that it seems no one has inhabited this place in years." Gwindel spoke his thoughts while following Lucille down one of the many streets.

"I don't know, Gwindel." Lucille said. "Perhaps that's what our true mission is: to find out what happened to this city."

Eles pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket and handed it to Lucille. He looked at it with curiosity before opening it, realizing what it was. A smile formed on his face as he looked from the paper to Eles.

"You're an absolute genius, Eles. Did you get this from the hotel?" he asked.

She nodded her head. "I did find it there. I figured a map would be good considering the size of the town and the fact that we don't know where anything is. This map shows the layout of the city and it shows where everything is," she took the map from Lucille and scanned over it. Luckily the paper wasn't getting too damaged from the rain and it was still readable. "See? Here's the school and the hospital and some restaurants, a gas station, there's even an amphitheater. We can visit the symphony hall."

Gwindel peered over her shoulder at the map. "We should go some place where a lot of people would gather. The hospital would be a good place to start."

Lucille shook his head as he took the map from Eles again. He wasn't that great at reading maps, but this map was simple enough to follow. It wasn't like their own crazy, complicated map they used to get around.

"The hospital would be good, but I have a feeling we won't find anyone there who can help us out," he smiled as he seemed to have found what he was looking for on the map. "The school would also be good, but I think we would be stupid to assume school is in session. However, there is one place that is guaranteed to have people especially on a night like tonight.

"And where would that be?" Gwindel questioned.

Lucille smiled at him as he held up the map and pointed to one of the locations. "The strip club, of course!"

Eles rolled her eyes and snatched the map away from him. "You want to go the strip club?"

"We do have a child with us, Lucille," Gwindel said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Now, now, don't be so quick to shoot down my idea. Just think about it! Look around us. There appears to be no one in sight. Not even a bird has shown up to the desolate place. If there is anyone remaining I promise it's not going to be doctors, it's not going to be students, it's not going to be teachers or actors or singers or farmers. It'll be the lowlifes. They swarm to places like this and the strip club, above all, will be the ideal place to find them."

Gwindel and Eles looked at each other. As much as they didn't want to admit it, Lucille was right. From the looks of it this place had stopped being a respectable town long ago. No one would be hanging out at the school or the hospital. In fact the hospital probably only had the dead remaining there. Gwindel nodded his head as he touched Eles on her back.

"I suppose you're right, Lucille. If there is anyone in this town they will certainly be at the strip club," Gwindel agreed.

"I'm glad you see it my way!" Lucille took the map back and started to lead the way to their next destination. It didn't take long before he got them completely lost. With the rain and his sense of direction he wasn't the ideal person to be in control of the map. He gave Eles the map and before long they were standing in front of the doors to the strip club.

"Heaven's Night…." Lucille read the name of the club aloud.

"It would be nice sounding if it wasn't the name of a place of sin," Gwindel said.

Lucille smiled at Gwindel. "We punish the sin, not the sinner. Let's go inside and see if we can't get some information."

All of three went inside and shut the door behind them to drown out the sound of the rain. Lucille's theory seemed to have been incorrect. There was no one in the club but them and it seemed no one had been there for a long time. The chairs were stacked on the tables, the bar and drinks behind it looked like they hadn't been touched in a while. Eles ran her hand across a table, getting dust all over her hand.

"No one's here," she said.

"And no one's been here in a long time," Gwindel said.

Lucille walked farther inside, eyeing the stage. In the pit of his stomach something felt wrong. His hands shook uncontrollably and he suddenly felt like it was a huge mistake going to the club.

"I found something!" Eles cried. Lucille jumped when she yelled. He shook his head and told himself to calm down. He looked over at her to see that she was standing behind the bar. Gwindel had walked back there with her, so Lucille made his way to them and stood in front of the bar.

"It's a note," Eles told him, holding it in front of her. She began to read it aloud.

_'They're attracted to the light, but they can also see you in the darkness. I don't know which is worse. Should I hide in the darkness and wait for them to find me? Or should I go out there in the light and just let them take me? It's too much for me to just sit in this corner and wait, but I can't just go out there . Either way I'll die. I'll die. I'll sit and wait to die.'_

The three of them looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Eles was the first to break the silence by swallowing loudly and slowly looking at Lucille.

"Do you think this person was talking about guignols? Do you think…guignols wiped out this city?" she asked, her voice shaking from fear.

Lucille quickly made his way around the counter and bent down to hug Eles. She hugged him right back, squeezing him as tightly as she could.

"Don't be scared, Eles. And don't give up. Don't give up like this man did, okay? Don't give up. I know you're scared, but we have fear to swallow. We all have to swallow our fear and get through this. We've come too far to turn away so don't give up, swallow your fear, and be prepared for anything," he took a deep breath before continuing. "I think the worst is yet to come."

"Lucille…."

Lucille looked up as Gwindel called to him. The larger man seemed to be looking at something. Lucille let go of Eles and stood up. He gasped at the sight before him.

Guignols had suddenly appeared in the middle of the floor. Lucille looked around and saw them coming from the side entrances of the stage and even from the front door. It seemed like it would never end. They just kept coming and coming.

"Lucille, there's no way we can take this many," Gwindel said.

Lucille nodded in agreement. "I'll try to clear a path to the door. Eles, do you think you'll be able to run to the door?"

Eles just nodded, too stunned to speak. Lucille took his tuning fork from his pocket and began to sing. The guignols in front of them started to explode one by one, but it wasn't enough. More just took place of the ones that got killed. Gwindel stepped from behind the bar, a small pickaxe in his hand. He began to physically take out the guignols. With the help of Lucille's voice he managed to clear a small path. He yelled for them to make a break for the door while he was taking care of some guignols who planned on keeping them there.  
Lucille sang as he guided Eles to the door. He pushed her out and she looked around quickly to make sure there weren't any guignols around outside. To her surprise there was nothing around. She ran across the street, but turned around as she heard someone scream.

"Gwindel, no! Gwindel!"

Her breath caught in her throat as she heard Lucille scream for their friend. She saw Lucille walk backwards out of the club and fall down, still screaming Gwindel's name. He began sobbing as he got on his knees and grabbed the door handle.

"Lucille, what are you doing?" Eles screamed at him as she made her way back across the street. Lucille quickly shut the door and stood up. He turned around and ran, grabbing Eles around her waist as he did. He picked her up and put her over his shoulder, not taking any chances that she would try to go back to the club.

"What are you doing? Gwindel is still in there! Lucille, let me go!" Eles cried.

"We have to leave, Eles. We can't stay here. It's too dangerous."

"No!" Eles screamed beating Lucille on his back. "Gwindel is still in there with the guignols! What are you doing? We have to go back!"

"He's gone, Eles!" Lucille screamed. He stopped running when he thought they were far enough and put her down. He bent to pull her into a hug but all she did was beat on his chest. "He's gone. I'm sorry, but it's true. We need to get out of here."

"No! No, we have to go back for him! We have to go back for Gwindel! Lucille, don't you care? Please, Lucille, we have to go back!"

"No, we can't go back. He's gone, Eles. I'm sorry. He's gone. We have to keep going. We have to get out of here."

Eles let out a loud wail and finally stopped hitting Lucille. She covered her face and sobbed in his chest, making the singer feel even more terrible than he already did. The rain disguised his tears and he knew he didn't have time to mourn his fallen friend. He had to get Eles out of the city and get back to the car to check on Kohaku. He had too much to worry about and Gwindel would have to wait. He wiped away his tears and pushed Eles a bit away from him to look her in the eyes.

"We need to get out of the city, Eles. Do you understand that?" he asked her slowly.

Between loud sobs she nodded her head.

"Okay, I think we're going in the right direction. The gate leading out should be farther up. Eles, listen, I need you to quiet down. If there are guignols around here then we can't alert them to our presence. We need to escape as quickly and quietly as possible."

Eles just shook her head. "Gwindel…."

"I know, sweetie, I know. I miss him too, but right now we need to get out of here. He wouldn't want us to just sit around and mourn him while the danger of us getting killed still lurks about. We need to get you out of here. You need to escape and if not for me than for Gwin. Can you do that, Eles? Can you get out of here for him?"

After a few sniffs and deep breaths Eles nodded her head. She seemed to have realized the seriousness of her and Lucille's situation. As much as she just wanted to drop to the ground and cry she knew she couldn't. Gwindel wouldn't want her to. He would want her to live. She had to try her best. The time for regrets would have to come later.

She faced away from Lucille in the direction she thought the gate was. She felt her face harden and at the same time the affection she felt for Lucille hardened too. She didn't even want to look at him. She slowly walked forward, not caring if he followed her or not. In less than five minutes everything she had once cared about had died.

_Deep in the night you think everything's right_  
_Tell it to yourself; Say it's just a nightmare_  
_Something is telling you nothing can change where you are_  
_Opposite of what you hear_  
_Dying is the least of fears_

* * *

**To be continued...until then take your time and create a masterpiece. **


	6. Epilogue of Hometown

**_Live at Heaven's Night, I present to you the sultry and exotic Kohaku, the magnificent and mysterious Lucille, and our taste of innocence, the sweet Eles. Our wonderful Gwindel won't be joining us, but I'm sure our three angels will show you a fun time tonight. So without much further ado, it is our pleasure to bring you Hometown...the second nightmare. _**

* * *

'_I tried my best. I'm so sorry. I tried. I really did. She hates me. I'm so sorry.'_

Kohaku ran around town again, simply hoping he would come across the school building. He listened to Lucille's voice pour his heart to him. Kohaku wondered if what happened to Gwindel was because of Lucille. Is that what he was apologizing for? And was Eles mad at him because of what happened? So many questions, but none of them could be answered. Kohaku felt like he was on a wild goose chase to find and rescue his friends.

However, a few things did come to light from his time in the city. He knew the city was inhabited by at least some guignols. There was no way Gwindel would have turned into one if there were none here. Another thing he knew was that there were either a few extremely strong guignols or simply an outrageous number of them. Gwindel wouldn't fall so easily, especially with Lucille to help take them out. Even though Kohaku had managed to go through the town and only come across one guignol, he knew he had to be careful. The town had secrets and he didn't know when or where it was going to reveal them.

Kohaku had stopped running to catch his breath. He felt like he had been running around the city for hours. He had no idea how much time actually passed, but he knew every minute counted. Every minute that passed could be another minute Eles and Lucille were hurt or in danger or worse. He shook his head to get rid of the thought and focused on his current dilemma.

"Where is the school?" he said aloud. Lucille had stopped speaking for a moment and it was Kohaku's chance to get a question in, however, Lucille was being stingy with his answers.

'_The school….'_

"The school, Lucille! Where is it? Can you tell me where it is?"

There was a moment of silence before Lucille spoke again. _'Find a map….'_

Kohaku rolled his eyes. This really wasn't a situation to be acting difficult in. Yet, Kohaku just continued to move forward, wondering where he was supposed to find a map. He wandered farther and farther, yet he came across no school and no map. He let out a frustrated cry and punched an advertisement board that was next to him.

"Lucille, please! Help me find you! Where is the school! I can't find a map, Lucille, so just tell me where you are!"

'_A map, Kohaku…a directory…something to tell you where to go….'_

"I know, Lucille, I…." Kohaku drifted off as he thought about Lucille words. A map…a directory…Kohaku looked at the advertisement board he just punched and brought his face closer to it. It wasn't an advertisement board at all. He had missed it due to the rain, but it was actually a town directory. He would be able to find the school after all!

'_The school and the hospital have similar sounding names. Be careful….'_

Kohaku took heed of that as he searched desperately for the school. After a moment of looking he thought he found it. Acanthite Middle School. He blinked as a thought occurred to him. If there was a middle school then wouldn't there be an elementary and high school? He lightly hit his head on the board and cursed.

"Which school, Lucille?"

'_Don't get the hospital and the school mixed up….'_

"I'm not getting the damn hospital mixed up with the school! Which school, Lucille? Tell me!"

It seemed Lucille was done. Kohaku waited a few minutes for an answer, but nothing came. He hit the board again, but then quickly started to memorize the path to the middle school.

"Left, left, right, right, straight for two streets, left…."

He ingrained that path in his mind and took off for the school. He repeated the path as he ran following his directions perfectly.

"Straight…keep going straight…then a left on…." He stopped running as he turned the corner and saw the sight in front of him. He looked around confused; he was sure he hadn't made a mistake in his directions.

In front of him stood the hospital, Acanthite Medical Center. Did he read the map wrong? Did he see Acanthite Middle School when it really read Acanthite Medical Center?

"No, this isn't right! Dammit!" Kohaku yelled.

'_I'm so sorry. How did this happen? I let this happen. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I can't be forgiven. She's cursing me as we speak. I'm so sorry.'_

Kohaku listened to Lucille's mournful cries again. The violinist shook his head.

"Don't get the hospital and school mixed up…" he repeated Lucille's words. "Lucille, did you get them confused? Did you mean to go to the school, but wind up at the hospital?"

'_I'm so sorry. Oh god, she's so mad at me. I can feel her anger. I'm so sorry. There's nothing else I can do! I tried, I tried so hard! I'm so sorry!' _

Kohaku looked at the hospital. He had never felt so apprehensive about going in a building before. He knew Lucille must have come here. He had warned him about getting the school and hospital mixed up and the only reason he would warn him is if that happened to him. Kohaku briefly wondered why he didn't tell him to go to the hospital in the first place. Perhaps if he had been looking for the hospital he would have found the school instead. It didn't matter. He knew Lucille had been here and he had no choice but to enter to see if he still was in there. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and walked to the door.

"Give me strength, Lucille," Kohaku whispered as he opened the door.

'_I can't.'_

Kohaku let out a chuckle. "It's okay. Don't even worry about it."

He walked into the lobby, gun in hand. He looked around and realized the lobby was just a big square room. Right in front of him was the check-in desk.

He slowly and quietly walked towards the desk. The floor creaked underneath him and he stopped moving, just in case something had heard him. He took a better look around and noticed the hospital was in the same state as the strip club. It looked like it hadn't been occupied in years. Chairs had fallen over, the metal was rusted, and there were no signs that anyone had been taking care of the place.

After waiting a few moments he began to move again. The floor continued to creak, but he didn't stop moving. He made it to the help desk and took a deep breath before quickly jumping behind it.

"Eles!"

Kohaku cried her name as he saw her huddled in the corner under the desk. He tucked his gun in his belt and ran to her, grabbing her by the shoulders. He almost didn't believe it was really her. Just feeling the touch of another human being made him feel better than he ever could have imagined.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he asked her. She was shaking and her eyes showed that she was terrified, but she seemed to be physically fine. She stared at Kohaku.

"What are you doing here?" she managed to get out, her voice shaking with each syllable. She wiped away the tears that were falling from her eyes, but it didn't help. She couldn't stop crying.

"I came to look for you. I woke up and no one was in the car so I knew you guys had gone to the city. I'm glad to see you're alright." He thought about asking her about Gwindel, but quickly decided against it. He honestly didn't know if she even knew what had happened to him and it would only upset her to hear about his fate.

"I'm okay." She took a deep breath to try to calm herself. Seeing Kohaku gave her just an inkling of hope. Perhaps they would be able to escape from the city after all. She gained enough composure to finally stop crying and put on a brave face, if only so she wouldn't be a burden to Kohaku. She crawled out from under the desk and slowly stood, Kohaku holding her by the arms to help her. She noticed he was looking around and the question she most expected came from his mouth.

"Where is Lucille? I thought he would be with you."

Eles leaned against the desk, waiting for her legs to start working on their own. She covered her face in a feeble attempt to avoid Kohaku's question. How was she supposed to answer that? It didn't pain her as much as she thought it would that he wasn't with her. After all, he did nothing to save Gwindel. Why should anyone be worried about him too?

"Eles, do you know where he's at?"

"I don't, Kohaku!" She removed her hands from her face and nearly shouted the answer at him. "It doesn't matter. If we try to look for him we'll only get killed. We need to leave now."

Kohaku could only stare at her. This wasn't the Eles he knew. The Eles he remembered would do anything for Lucille. She would go to the ends of the Earth for him. She would put herself in harm's way if it meant Lucille would stay safe. She would never just throw him to the wolves and forget about him. Just hearing her say those words made him see how this city was affecting them. It bothered him to know that it didn't bother Eles to know Lucille was missing. He had to do something to save them and he needed to do it quickly.

"Listen, Eles, I know this has been hard. We can all get out of here alive though."

"Not all of us. Gwindel won't ever make it out of here."

The thought of Gwindel's wooden and cracked face suddenly appeared in Kohaku's mind. The image of cellist burning in flames would be forever ingrained there. He shook his head to try force the thought away, but it wouldn't leave his mind.

"You're right, Eles. He won't be leaving with us, but you, me, and Lucille can still make it out of here alive. I know you didn't see him die because you would have said so. Where did you last see him? If you want me to help get you out of here then you need to help me find Lucille."

"He left Gwindel to die."

The words hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity. Kohaku suddenly felt weak and couldn't stop himself from sliding to the floor. Eles' face was stone cold when she said it and somehow Kohaku knew she was telling the truth. But the truth seemed impossible. Lucille cared so much for all of them. There was no way he would leave any of them to die.

"Lucille…Lucille wouldn't do that, Eles."

"I didn't think so either. You weren't there. You don't know what happened."

"Maybe I don't! But I know Lucille and he would never leave one of us behind. Gwindel wouldn't be taken out so easily. If he left Gwindel then it meant he had to make a tough decision. I'm sure he saw that Gwindel couldn't be saved and he opted to save you as opposed to trying to help Gwindel and getting you all killed."

Tears began to flow from Eles' eyes again. It was all beginning to be too much for her and Kohaku could see it. She was just a little girl who had suffered so many traumas in her life. At her tender age she shouldn't have had to go through such terrible things. Kohaku had seen death and destruction over and over and as much as it hurt him to say it, he was used to it. Eles, however, was not. She had been though too much and now she had to deal with the fact that a man she had grown so close to was dead and the person she trusted the most apparently didn't do much to prevent it. But Kohaku could see in her eyes that she didn't believe the things she was saying about Lucille.

"He saw that you still had a chance, Eles. Instead of trying to save someone who was already dead he saved the one who still had a shot at living. I know you understand that. You just need someone to blame."

"He is to blame, Kohaku! You didn't see it!"

"I don't need to know the details. I know Lucille didn't put Gwindel in the situation that killed him. Sometimes…we just have to accept the fact that horrible things happen. Do you think Gwindel could have been saved? Do you think Lucille could have really prevented his death?"

a sob escaped Eles' throat. She sat for a while just crying. Kohaku wasn't sure what to do. Usually when Eles got emotional it was Lucille who took care of it. He just watched her, wondering if he should hug her or put a hand on her shoulder. Would any of that make her feel better?

"There…there were so many, Kohaku…." Eles said between sobs. "I managed to get out and Lucille followed, but Gwindel was trapped. Lucille shut the door; he shut the door, Kohaku! He just left him in there!"

'_There was no other choice! I saw him get bit! They were all over him! I had to save Eles. They would have followed us and killed her too if I left the door open! It's all my fault! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen! I'm so sorry!'_

Kohaku covered his ears, knowing it would do nothing to block out Lucille's cries. Lucille's voice was in his head, regardless if he wanted to hear him or not. Hearing Eles cry her eyes out and then hearing Lucille blame himself was too much for him. He wanted to break down and cry. He wanted to scream at Lucille for not listening to him in the first place and deciding to go in the city. He wanted to hug Lucille and kiss him and see him again, but this all too much to ask. He had to stay strong for Eles and if…when they found Lucille he would have to be strong for him too.

"Listen, Eles," he said, doing everything he could to keep his composure and not shoot the windows. "Lucille had to make a decision and he chose to save you. Blame him all you want, but he saved your damn life!" So much for staying composed…. "Even if you blame him for what happened to Gwindel he still saved your life! You owe him! You can repay him by telling me where you last saw him."

Eles let out a frustrated cry and banged the side of the desk with her fist. He knew the last thing she needed was to be yelled at, but sympathy wasn't working and it wasn't even in Kohaku's nature to be sympathetic. If being aggressive was the only thing that would work then he would use that method.

Eles let out another cry as she stood up and ran to a door next to the help desk. She opened it and ran inside. Kohaku quickly stood up and followed her, pulling his gun from his belt and cursing Eles for being so incautious. He stood by the open door to see that it lead to a long hallway with multiple hallways breaking off from the main one. Eles stood next to what seemed to be a nurse desk and was staring at the wall. Kohaku made his way over to her to see what she was looking at.

"There!" she yelled, pointing to a specific place on the map. She could barely reach it, but she managed to show Kohaku what he wanted to know. "This is the last place we were together."

Kohaku almost wanted to laugh at the irony. Eles' finger was pointing to the psych ward. Kohaku stared at the map and noticed the psych ward was on the fourth floor, the highest floor. There were two ways in and out: a door leading in from the main hallway and an emergency escape route behind a door at the farthest end of the ward.

"How did you get all the way down here, Eles?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound too accusing. What he was really thinking was how did Lucille get stuck in the psych ward while Eles made her way from the highest floor to the lowest floor?

"I left through the front door. We came in through the emergency exit, but all of the doors leading to the other floors in the exit were locked. We wound up on the fourth floor so I left and used the main staircases to make my way down here."

"Why wasn't Lucille with you?"

"I…I don't remember. One minute we were together and the next minute I was on the first floor and he was gone. I didn't go back to look for him. I'm sorry."

Kohaku lightly hit his head on the directory. "No, it's okay. Don't beat yourself up over it. There aren't any lights here so it's easy to get disoriented and get lost."

Both of them remained silent while contemplating what to do. Eles wanted nothing more than to leave. Part of her hoped Lucille was alright, but another part told her not to worry and save her own skin. She knew that Kohaku would not leave though. He was going to find Lucille if it was the last thing he did and she would have no choice but to go with him. She wasn't about to be on her own again and hopefully they could just do a quick scan of certain parts of the hospital and then leave.

"Okay!" Kohaku said, jolting Eles from her thoughts. "We'll make our way up to the fourth floor and look around the psych ward. If he's not there we'll…I don't know. Hopefully he's there."

Kohaku took another quick look at the map, to make sure he knew the way to the fourth floor. It wasn't really that hard. On the first floor was a staircase that led to the second floor. The map indicated that once they were on the second floor there would be a staircase leading to the third floor right in front of them and it would be the same for the third floor to the fourth floor. He could make it to the fourth floor in no time, but the problem would be trying to find Lucille once they got there. It seemed like the psych ward was huge and had tons of rooms. It wouldn't be an easy task to find the singer, but Kohaku refused to leave without him.

He walked away from the map and headed for the stairs. He didn't hear Eles following so he stopped and turned around. She was still staring at the map. He was no mind reader, but he could tell she didn't want to go. Who could blame her? He was just as desperate to get out of the city as she was, but he had different priorities than her. Apparently, Lucille didn't mean that much to her anymore and she could do without him. Kohaku didn't feel the same.

"You can stay here, Eles," he called to her. She looked over at him, though her face didn't hold much emotion. He wanted her to stay close to him, but if she was going to put up a fight about it then he would go look for Lucille on his own. "You can hide under the desk again and I'll come get you when I'm done looking for Lucille."

Eles looked back at the map. She stared at the area that was the psych ward. She didn't want to go back there. She had made the long, terrifying trip from the fourth floor to the first floor alone. As much as felt disgusted at Lucille, it had been nice to at least have another human being next to her. She wanted to leave and drive off, forgetting any of this ever happened. Seeing the impossibility of that, she went with her next best option.

"I'm coming." She quickly ran to Kohaku's side and together they made their way to the second floor.

'_The children's ward….'_

They were halfway up the stairs when Kohaku suddenly heard Lucille's voice in his head again. Eles kept moving up the stairs, but noticed Kohaku wasn't climbing anymore. She turned around and looked at him. He seemed distant or occupied. She called his name, but he didn't respond.

'_The children's ward….'_

"Eles?" The girl jumped as he suddenly said her name. "Which floor is the children's ward on?"

Eles was surprised by the question. How was she supposed to know? "I don't know, Kohaku. I didn't pay attention to it when we were looking at the map. There's probably a map on the second floor. Let's keep going."

She continued up the stairs and Kohaku ran up them two at a time. They made it to the floor and saw a map right next to the staircase in front of them. He ran to it and skimmed over it with his finger.

"Oh…this is it. The second floor has the children's ward on it. The whole floor isn't the children's ward, only part of it is. It's farther to the back. We just go down this hallway, make a left at the first turn and then make a right at the second turn. That should take us to the children's ward. Did you get all that, Eles?"

"No!" Eles said. She was already aggravated that she had to accompany him to look for Lucille and now he had a sudden change of plans. That aggravation was slowly turning to fury, most likely brought on by pure fear. "Why are we looking for the children's ward? I thought you wanted to go to the psych ward!"

Kohaku froze. He didn't know how to respond to that. Eles obviously couldn't hear Lucille's voice and she would think he had gone crazy if he told her Lucille was speaking to him through his mind. Although, he didn't think he was entirely sane anymore, but at least he was still able to think logically and figure out what needed to be done.

"I just…something tells me we need to check the children's ward. I think we'll find something here so…just trust me."

"Kohaku, we can't go around checking every nook and cranny in this giant hospital!" Eles had finally lost it. She was screaming by this point and even smacked Kohaku on his shoulder. "And we certainly can't search places just because you get a hunch! We're in serious danger here and you're playing around!"

"I'm very aware of how much danger we're in, Eles." Kohaku roughly grabbed Eles' arm and brought his face as close to hers as he could get it. Eles stared into his different colored eyes and felt more fear looking into them than she had throughout her whole journey. "I think you're the one who doesn't realize how much danger we're in." he spoke low, almost in a whisper, and Eles could tell he was trying his hardest to not simply scream at her. "If you did realize it then you wouldn't be shouting like a damn idiot, letting all of the guignols know where we are. I know you don't want to look for Lucille and I don't care. I'll do everything I can to find him and if you're going to come with me then you're going to act like you have some goddamn sense. Do you understand me?"

"You're hurting me," Eles said, her voice cracking.

"I said do you understand me?"

Eles quickly nodded her head. "Yes, I understand!"

He let her go and started to make his way down the hallway.

'_Eles…oh, my poor Eles. I'm so sorry. She's so scared, Kohaku. My poor, poor Eles. Please, Kohaku…my Eles!'_

Kohaku froze and slowly turned back around to look at Eles. He had successfully made her cry. He didn't mean to hurt her or talk to her that way, but he needed her to understand that he wouldn't simply give up his search for Lucille. He sighed as he made his way over to her again and pressed her head against his chest in an attempt to show affection.

"Eles…I'm going to find Lucille and save him from whatever danger he may be in. I'm not going to leave you alone to defend for yourself either. All three of us are getting out of here alive if it's the last thing I do. I'll protect you. Stay close to me, okay?"

Eles slowly nodded her head. Kohaku held her for just a little longer before moving to put an arm her shoulder and lightly push her in the direction they needed to go. Eles wiped away her tears, quieted down, and started to follow Kohaku of her own will. Perhaps his scolding then kindness proved to work on her.

They finally made it to the children's ward. When the opened the doors they were met with strong winds and papers flying in every direction.

"What the hell?" Kohaku yelled over the wind.

Eles pointed to the other side of the room. "A window's open!"

Kohaku looked ahead to see a window on the far end of the hall and a single curtain blowing beside it. Kohaku ran over to the window and was about to close it when he noticed something that seemed to shut his whole body down. The curtain wasn't a curtain at all; it was Lucille's jacket. His mind filled with terrible thoughts as to why Lucille's jacket was there with no person to go along with it. He touched it, only feeling wetness from the rain and yanked it from the window.

"Lucille," he whispered. "Where are you?"

"Oh no."

He barely heard Eles speak behind him, but he could only assume she had thought the worst of what could have happened to Lucille. He held the jacket closer to him and looked out of the window. There was no sign of him anywhere. Right at that moment, his eye began to string, interrupting his thoughts. He began looking around for any guignols in the area.

"Kohaku."

Kohaku didn't hear Eles call out to him since he was looking out of the window, scanning for guignols.

"KOHAKU, PLEASE!"

That time Kohaku did hear her. He quickly turned around to see children come out of the rooms and the other hallways. They were all guignols and all of them were slowly closing in on Eles. She had fallen to her knees and had tried crawling in each direction, only to have a guignol block her path.

"No…no! No, this just like home! No, please! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kill them! I'm sorry! Please, Kohaku!"

Kohaku sprang into action, dropping the jacket and holding a gun in each hand. The children weren't only going for Eles; they were going for him as well. He shot at them and managed to take out many of them, but he wasn't getting any closer to Eles. He was still by the window and any guignol he took out was only replaced by another.

He heard Eles scream and briefly focused on her. She had managed to get against a wall, trying to make her way over to Kohaku.

"Please, I'm so sorry! Don't be mad at me, I'm begging you! I just wanted to play the piano! Eles…everyone…I'm sorry!"

"Eles, no!" Kohaku began backing up as the guignol children closed in on him. "Damn! There's too many!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! No, please!"

"Eles!" Kohaku shouted again. He backed up more, shooting at everything he could so he could make his way to Eles. Yet, all it took was one misstep. A guignol managed to get too close to him. He backed up again only to fall from the window.

"No!" he screamed as he fell. He landed with thud on his back, his guns still in hand. He was disoriented from his fall, the rain blurring his vision and the wind stifling his hearing. However, he could still hear the sounds of Eles screaming for him to save her. He dropped one of his guns and raised his hand to the second story window. He tried to scream to Eles to jump from the window; that he would catch her if she did! His voice didn't seem to be working correctly. He tried to scream, he tried to move, he tried to shoot his gun, but finally the screams stopped. It was all over.

"I'm sorry, Eles."

Kohaku closed his eyes as he whispered the last words he would ever speak to Eles. He banged his hands on the ground and let out a loud scream.

"She was just a child!"

No one heard him. He shook his head and tried to stand, but his body refused to move. He took a heavy fall and he needed time to recuperate, though not too much time. He stared into the dark sky and thought of the only person left alive in the city.

"Lucille…why did you make us go in there? I know you're not in there. I know you're not. Why did you make us go to the children's ward? Lucille?"

There was no response. Kohaku rolled his eyes. Lucille seemed to only respond when it was least convenient.

"Lucille, I know you're not in the hospital. I know you sent me there to get Eles, but why didn't you tell me to leave after I found her? Now she's dead or worse…why did you let me take her to the second floor?"

Once again there was no response.

"Lucille…" a sarcastic chuckle escaped his mouth. "If you really are even Lucille…I can't make it. I'm no quitter, but two of us are gone. I don't think I can go any farther."

Just when Kohaku was about to lose all hope, an answer, a true answer, finally came to him.

'_Go to the amphitheater. I'll be there, waiting for you.'_

* * *

Lucille held on to Eles' arm as he ran. They had checked the map to be sure they were going in the right direction to exit the city. As they ran they passed familiar buildings and landmarks, letting them know they were on the right track. They were cold and wet and exhausted, but they couldn't stop now when they were so close.

Both of them were silent as they ran. There wasn't much to say. Lucille could almost feel Eles' eyes burning into him. She was angry at him. She blamed him for Gwindel's death…if he did die. He wished she could understand what was going through his head at the time. He saw Gwindel get bit. He saw him get scratched and attacked and as much as Lucille sang it did no good. Gwindel was gone. Lucille's only thought was to save Eles so he shut the door and ran. There was no point in saving Gwindel, who already had his fate chosen for him. Eles still had a chance and Lucille wasn't about to let her die. And yet…she hated him for it.

He wondered if he should try to speak to her. He wondered if she would only scream at him and tell him what a monster he was. It wasn't fair to him, but he knew that she blamed him. He really couldn't be mad at her.

'_Why, oh why did I decide to come here? I'm so sorry, Gwindel. I'm sorry, Eles. Kohaku…I should have listened.'_

The gate was finally in sight after what seemed like an eternity. Eles got excited and forced Lucille to let her go so she could run to the gate. Freedom was only a few feet away. However, Lucille almost immediately grabbed her by her collar and pressed him against her. He stood against a wall facing away from the gate.

"What are you doing? We're almost-"

Eles was cut off as Lucille covered her mouth with his hand. He knew he wasn't doing anything to regain her trust, but he swore he saw something in the distance. He peered around the corner of the wall again and saw shapes walking around by the gate.

"I think there are guignols, Eles."

Eles quit struggling and looked up at him. Guignols were blocking the exit? Lucille pressed himself against the wall again and closed his eyes.

"I can tell. Those are definitely guignols. There might be too many of them for us to try to make an escape."

Eles just shook her head. They were almost out. They were almost free. How could they be so close and yet so far? It just wasn't fair; nothing was fair. How were they supposed to get out that hellhole of a city now?

"We need to find some place to hide for the night," Lucille whispered as he took the map from Eles's pocket and opened it up for both of them to look at it. "We need to find a large building to stay in."

Eles shook her head. "A small building will be better so we can hide in it."

"A larger building will give us multiple hiding places and should guignols be in the building we have more room to escape instead of getting trapped by them," Lucille explained this to Eles and she quickly shut her mouth. It almost made her angry to be wrong, but she told herself to get over it. They were in a dire situation and as much as she hated it, they needed to work together. She surprised herself at how much just hearing Lucille's voice made her so agitated. Where did her love for him go? She didn't even remember loving him at one point….

"Here. We'll go to the school, Acanthite Middle School. It should be large and good place to hide until daylight. Once the sun rises it will be easier for us to spot out guignols and hopefully we can make an escape route."

Eles slightly nodded her head as Lucille took the map and began to head away from the gate. Eles wasn't sure if he should be in charge of the map. She wanted to take it from him and scream at him for even thinking he had a sense of direction. Yet, she held her tongue and followed after the blonde, listening to him read the directions out loud. Things seemed to be going smoothly, at least until they reached their destination.

"Lucille…are you serious?"

"No, this isn't right! I swear I saw the school here on the map, Eles!"

The two of them stood in front of the hospital, Acanthite Medical Center. Lucille had a look of shock while Eles held a look of disgust. She scoffed at Lucille as she made her way to the front door.

"No, Eles, please! I swear to you I saw the school!"

"You know what, Lucille, it doesn't matter. This place is big enough for us so…just stop. Just stop, Lucille."

Lucille stopped calling after Eles and stared at her as she walked to the door of the hospital. He could feel her hate towards him; he could feel her hostility. She thought of him as an abomination and the thought of that horrified him more than any guignol could. He wished she could understand the pressure he was under. He didn't want to leave anyone behind, but there was nothing he could do.

"Eles," he ran to catch up with her and stood behind her. She refused to turn around to face him, focusing on the door in front of her. A quick turn of the knob would get them inside out of the rain, but Lucille put a hand on her shoulder, asking her to hold off for just a few more moments.

"Hate won't heal, Eles. Hate won't get us out of here. In fact, hate can only keep us here longer. Please…don't be this way, Eles. I beg you."

The sound of the knob turned and Lucille knew his plea had been ignored. To know Eles, a person he adored and trusted, hated him was more than he could bear. A sob caught in his throat and he tried to stop the sound, but he knew Eles had heard it. She turned her head slightly, but went right back to turning the knob. Lucille turned away from her, covering his mouth to try to block out the sounds of his sobs. He took several deep breaths and wiped his eyes hoping to get rid of his tears.

"It's locked."

He turned back around and stared at Eles. How could the door be locked? He walked to her and tried to open the door himself, but it wouldn't budge.

"Let's..." he took a moment out to sniff a few times, his tears not quite fully gone. "Let's go around the back," he lifted his hand to eyes again. Eles noticed he was shaking and for a moment she felt bad…but only for a moment. She stared at him as he walked to the edge of the building and looked around the corner. After several minutes of what seemed to be him just staring into space, he finally motioned to her to join him. She jogged to him as he disappeared on the other side of the building. When she saw him again he was standing next to an open door.

"This seems to be an emergency exit. We can get in the building this way. Let's go," he seemed to have composed himself a bit more, but Eles noticed his eyes were red and puffy. She pushed down the guilt that crept into her heart and reminded herself why he was crying in the first place. It was his fault and she knew that he knew. This would be the first of many nights where he couldn't control his crying and Eles couldn't help but think that he deserved it.

The two of them closed the door behind them and located double doors with a number one next to it. They assumed it lead to the first floor and attempted to open it.

"This is locked too," Eles said.

Lucille just shook his head. "This doesn't make any sense. Why are these doors locked?" Eles couldn't tell if he was speaking to himself or her. It didn't matter. She had no intention of responding to anything he had to say.

He seemed to realize that fact as he went up a flight of stairs that was next to the door. Eles followed him, finding that the stairs led to another set of double with a number two next to them. Those doors were locked as well. They continued up the stairs to the third floor, which also had locked doors. With most of their faith gone, they walked up the stairs to floor number four. Lucille tried to door, positive that it was locked. To both of their surprise, the door was opened.

They carefully walked in, looking around to make sure no guignols were there. After they were sure the hallway was clear they walked in to find hiding places. Lucille didn't want them to separate, but Eles had already begun to check each and every room. He knew she didn't want to be near her so he gave her the space she needed, without being too far away. He eventually came across a directory and was able to locate where they were in the hospital.

"This is…the psych ward," he said with some hesitation.

"Hmph. Are you sure?"

Lucille turned to see Eles behind him with her hands on her hips. From the way she was looking at him it was obvious she didn't believe he could read any sort of map, even one that plainly stated where their location was. She walked to the directory and looked at it, confirming they were indeed in the psych ward. It disturbed her to know where they were. The psych ward wasn't the place anyone wanted to visit, whether the hospital was in a creepy town or not.

"Perhaps we should try to go to the first floor," Lucille said. "It will be easier for us to leave when morning hits. We can unlock the front door from the inside."

Eles didn't want to say she agreed with him so she simply turned around and walked away, heading to a staircase she noticed upon entering the fourth floor. Lucille followed her and soon realized the stairs led to the third floor. He thanked whatever god in heaven that Eles knew how to navigate. The second and first floor would be no problem to get to.

He felt another sob try to escape his throat. He held it back as best as he could and called to Eles from the middle of the stair case.

"Eles," he said, not able to keep his voice from cracking. "Just…I'm sorry I need a minute. Don't go too far, please."

He didn't hear a response, but he didn't hear feet working their way down the staircase. He assumed Eles had decided to wait for him before going farther down. That made him happy.

Yet, at the same time it bothered him. When did it become unusual for Eles to do something as simple as wait for him to calm down? Any other time, Eles would be there next to him, doing everything in her power to make him smile again. Now…he would be lucky if she ever spoke to him again.

He sat on the stairs as multiple things started to hit him at once. Gwindel's death came at him full force and he couldn't help but sob. He wanted nothing more than to protect his comrades, but he failed again! He had no right to keep friends. The people he cared about were only met with death or misery. The price to pay for being his friend was no where near worth it.

Perhaps Eles wouldn't suffer from his curse. If one were to ask her, she would say they were no longer friends. How could someone hate someone so much and still consider them a friend? Lucille cried harder at that thought, whispering Eles' name. Not only was he upset that she hated him, he blamed himself for turning her into an uncaring creature. He knew she would never be the same. Her heart was now as hard as diamonds and she would never let anyone in again. Lucille had wanted to heal her; he had wanted to help her find her identity; he wanted to be there for her when she needed him. Now…she never wanted to look at him.

He cried and cried; it seemed like the tears would never stop falling. Then another thought hit him. Kohaku…. Kohaku was alone in the car. Would he wake up and come to the city to find everyone? Of course he would…unless his eye prevented him from doing it again. He prayed again that his eye would hurt him. He never deliberately wished for Kohaku's eyes to cause him pain, but in this situation it was the better outcome.

"Kohaku…oh, my Kohaku," Lucille whispered. He leaned his head on the wall and thought about his beloved. "Kohaku, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry." He began to pour his heart out, knowing Kohaku couldn't hear him. He felt that he needed to get the words out. They were possibly the last words he would ever say to Kohaku.

"I'm so sorry. It wasn't supposed to be this way. I didn't mean for this to happen. I…I just…oh, I don't know. I should have listened to you! I should never have come to this city! I'm so sorry! Gwindel's dead and it's all my fault! I tried to save him, but I couldn't. I saw him get bit, Kohaku. I saw the guignols attacking him. There was nothing I could do so I saved Eles instead and now…now she hates me. I tried so hard! I tried my best! I'm so sorry. She's so mad at me. There's nothing I can do. Oh, don't forgive me. I can't right the wrong I've done. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry!"

Lucille cried more, but his confession seemed to help calm him down. He sniffed a few times before wiping his tears away.

"I love you, Kohaku. And I'm so sorry for everything."

He stood up and took a deep breath before making his way down the stairs. He looked up and down the hallway, but didn't see Eles anywhere. Did she continue on to the first floor? He thought she waited for him.

"Too much to hope for…."

He closed his eyes and took the flight of stairs to the second floor. He was about to make his way to the first floor when he heard something from farther down the hall. He instantly stopped and looked in that direction.

"Eles?" he called out, waiting for some response. When he heard nothing, he called her name again. Once again, there was no response. He was about to go down the stairs when he heard something else from down the hall. The first thing that went through his mind was that Eles was in danger. She might have gotten distracted while exploring and wound up getting hurt. He briefly looked at the directory next to him, just to know where he was. The floor with the children's ward…. He dashed to area where he thought the sound came from, wondering if Eles was safe.

Little did he know that Eles was indeed safe. She had made it to the first floor without encountering any guignols or any other dangers. She didn't care enough to wait for Lucille to finish crying, and she didn't care enough to go back and look for him. She unlocked the front door to the hospital and hid under a desk, waiting for sunrise and praying for a miracle. Many things filled her mind, but the last thing she was concerned with was Lucille….

However, Eles was the only thing on his mind at the moment. He ran to the area where he heard the noises and listened again in case he heard something. When he did hear something he was able to pinpoint the room it came from. He opened the door and gave a shout as aggressive winds nearly blew him backwards. He saw an open window at the far end of the room and ran to it to close it.

The winds blew his jacket every which way and it got caught on the window. He pulled at it and tugged, but he couldn't remove it. He eventually decided to just take off his jacket. He did so and attempted to close the window again, but something distracted him. He heard another strange noise; he heard the noise of wood clanking together. He swiftly turned around to see a guignol child leap for him, knocking him out of the window. He managed to switch their positions in the air so the guignol took the blunt of the fall. He sang and disposed of the guignol, quickly standing and looking back at the window. He was a bit disoriented from his fall, but he knew he was fine and he needed to get back to Eles.

It was only when he saw his shirt torn and blood coming from his arm that he knew all hope was lost. There was no point in going to find Eles to keep her safe. He would only endanger her now. The guignol had managed to scratch him and he could already see cracks forming at the wound. He wouldn't dare try to see Eles one last time and he knew he would never get a chance to see his Kohaku.

He took a deep breath to keep the tears from falling. As strange as it seemed, a smile crossed his face as a thought occurred to him. He was Lucille, leader of the Great Grand Orchestra. He was extravagant in every way and even in death he would continue to be extravagant.

He pulled out the map and began to make his way to the one place he could always call home, the amphitheater, Acanthite Symphony Hall.

* * *

Kohaku opened his eyes, unaware he had even lost consciousness. He quickly jumped to his feet and pulled out his gun, ignoring the pain in his body. He didn't know how long he was out, but he could have been devoured by guignols at any moment. He was lucky to be alive. He pressed his back against the hall as he tried to set everything straight. He remembered going to the hospital and finding Eles. He remembered the two of them going to the second floor and him falling out of the window. He remembered Eles calling for help, but he couldn't save her. He shook his head to try and stay focused. He pushed Eles from his mind and tried to remember what happened next.

"Lucille…you said the amphitheater right? Don't worry. I'll be there!"

Kohaku, his body in immense pain and freezing from the rain, began to run away from the hospital. He found a directory and began to scan it, the rain making it all the more harder to read. He eventually located the amphitheater and memorized the directions to get there. He ran all the way there, not taking a moment to break and rest his aching body. With every step he knew he was getting closer and closer to Lucille. If the two of them could get out alive then it would have been worth it for him to go to the city. Gwindel and Eles were lost causes, but if the remaining two could get out then everything would be all right.

"I'm coming, Lucille. Just hold on a little longer."

Kohaku ran as fast as he could and soon found himself in front of the giant amphitheater, Acanthite Symphony Hall. He didn't hesitate to run inside and head straight for the main symphony hall. He stopped when he walked in. He saw hundreds of dead guignols on the ground, in chairs, even in the balcony. Their bodies had exploded and he knew it could only have been the work of one man.

"Lucille…."

He looked to the stage and saw that it was clear of any guignols, but there was one lone body. He whispered Lucille's name as he ran through the massacre of guignols to the stage. He jumped on it and ran to Lucille. When he made it to him his body had finally given out and he fell next to the singer, their bodies facing each other.

"Lucille…I'm here. I followed all of your directions. I did everything you told me to and I made it. I found you."

"No…Kohaku, go. You need to leave. You can't stay here."

Kohaku stared at him in bewilderment. Was what he was hearing true? Was Lucille really saying those things?

"No, I did so much to get here and I'm not leaving this damn city without you, Lucille."

"No, you need to go. Look at me, Kohaku. I don't have much time. You need to leave."

Kohaku blinked a few times. His vision had blurred due to his state and most likely the rain. He opted to scoot his sore body as close as he could to Lucille and it was then that he noticed it.

"Just like Gwindel…."

Lucille's face had begun to crack. Kohaku touched his arm and felt the hardness of wood. It was all over. The Grand Orchestra had lost the battle and the war.

"You need to leave."

"I won't leave you."

"No, please leave. I don't want to hurt you."

"I said I won't leave you!"

Kohaku nearly jumped on Lucille, pressing the singer's face into his neck. He cringed at the feel of his wooden doll face, but he refused to let him go. He had worked too hard to get to that point and he refused to go anywhere without Lucille.

"Please, Kohaku," he heard Lucille speak into his neck. He could hear Lucille's voice begin to change. It was starting to sound higher and come out as more of a growl. It was only a matter of time.

"I think you're starting to get the point where you don't care if I leave or not, right? In a few moments you won't even remember me."

"No, don't say that!"

"I don't mind. It seems our luck as run out. Dammit. I wanted to spend more time with you…dumb vocalist. You're so hard headed…literally now," he knocked twice on Lucille's head. "If only you had listened to me."

"Kohaku…." Lucille wrapped his arms around Kohaku's body and Kohaku knew he was just about gone. He relaxed his body and took a deep breath, then kissed Lucille's hair.

"It's okay. You don't need to feel guilty anymore. I'm here to make everything go away. So, with your final goodbye…take me with you."

Kohaku heard Lucille give a low growl and then he felt teeth bite into his neck. He smiled, knowing all of their misery was finally at an end.

"NOOOO!"

Kohaku screamed and sat up, noticing a blanket covering his body. He threw it off of him and pulled out his gun, observing his surroundings. He was in the car. How did that happen? He was just in the amphitheater…. He looked out of the windshield and noticed it was sunny. That couldn't be possible either. It was just raining.

He shook his head and quickly, but with shaky hands, opened the car door. However, at the same moment the door seemed to open itself and Kohaku fell out of it, landing flat on his face. He looked up from the ground to see two feet in front of him and he immediately sat up on his knees and pointed his gun in the face of the person those two feet belonged to.

"Stop! It's me, Kohaku. It's Lucille!"

Lucille held his hands in the air and gave Kohaku a look that was a mix between fright and concern. Kohaku stared at Lucille for a moment before looking at Eles and Gwindel who were next to him, pointing the gun at each of them as he looked at them.

"No, no…where are we? What happened?" Kohaku stood up, still pointing the gun at Lucille, though he didn't seem to even be aware he was doing it. "We were just at that city! The Acanthite place or whatever!"

"No, Kohaku. Listen, Kohaku, put the gun down. We were in the back and we heard you scream so we came to check on you. You need to take a deep breath and calm down."

"I can't calm down! I just saw everyone get turned into guignols and now we're sitting around like nothing happened? What the hell?" Kohaku screamed.

"Kohaku, please…if you need me to explain something to you I will. Listen to my voice, Kohaku. You need to calm down. Kohaku…."

Lucille attempted to touch Kohaku's arm. Kohaku stared at him with wide eyes and flinched as his touch. Yet, he felt that same warmth that he felt every time the singer touched him. He slowly lowered his gun while staring into Lucille's eyes. The gun hung by his side in his hand and he was unaware that Lucille had managed to take it away. Gwindel went behind the singer and took it, letting Lucille use both of his hands to bring Kohaku back to the ground. Kohaku rested against the car while Lucille sat on his knees in front of him.

"What's the matter, darling? You seem so frightened. What happened?"

"You…you and Eles and Gwindel…you all…I don't even know! You're standing right in front of me now! You all went to that freakin', goddamn city! You didn't listen to me!"

"Are you talking about Acanthite? We didn't go to the city, love. I thought about it, but the pain in your eye caused you to pass out. If the pain was that intense then there were certainly too many guignols in the city for us to handle."

Kohaku blinked a few times and stared at Lucille. They didn't go to the city? They never stepped foot there? Kohaku looked at Eles and Gwindel. They certainly weren't guignols and neither was Lucille.

"B-but…you took me all around the city. You took me to the strip club and the hospital a-and the amphitheater. You told me to go to all of those places!"

"Trust me, I would never tell you to go to a strip club…." Lucille said, raising his eyebrow. He shook his head and focused back on getting Kohaku to calm down, but Kohaku interrupted him.

"But you did! You told me to go there and find a map so I did and Gwin was there and he was a guignol! And then you told me to go to hospital, really the school actually, but I found Eles and she hated you and-"

"I could never hate Lucille. That's proof that what you saw wasn't real," Eles quickly said, correcting Kohaku immediately.

"And I'm no guignol," Gwindel told him. "….well…mostly not."

"Kohaku," Lucille said gently, beginning to rub Kohaku's hair. He waited until Kohaku was focused on him again before speaking. "We never went to that city. You warned us not to go. You said there were too many of them for us to handle. We listened to you. I considered for a moment going to the city with Gwindel and leaving Eles with you, but I changed my mind. I decided it would be better for us to stay in the car. We waited until the storm passed and drove away. I contacted the queen telling her our concerns about that city. I'm sure that city will be destroyed any day now."

Everything Lucille was saying began to sink in. They really didn't go to the city. Gwindel wasn't a guignol. Eles didn't hate Lucille and she wasn't a guignol or dead. And Lucille was right in front of Kohaku. His face wasn't cracked and the hand going through the violinist's hair wasn't wooden. Kohaku's body wasn't in pain from falling from a high window and he certainly hadn't been turned into a guignol either.

"It was a dream?"

"Sounds more like a nightmare to me, but yes, it was a dream, Kohaku," Lucille said.

"It…it was just so real, though," Kohaku said. Lucille wrapped his arms around Kohaku's neck pulled his trembling body close to him. He planted small kisses in his hair and Kohaku never imagined those little things could feel so good. He wanted to touch Lucille's face and kiss him and hug him and never let him go. He wanted to feel that he wasn't a wooden doll and he wanted to know that he would never leave his side.

"Are you going to be okay, Kohaku?" Eles asked.

Kohaku nodded his head. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? Is there anything you need from me?" Lucille asked, still rubbing Kohaku's hair.

"No. I'm just glad you're all alive."

Kohaku was happy to know that it was all just a nightmare. None of that was true. And yet, he knew that in their line of work, that nightmare could become reality at any time. All it would take was one mistake and all four of them could be facing an impossible horde of guignols, or sure death, or hate of one another. Yet, he hoped and even prayed that with Lucille as their leader and their music as their weapons, they would never grow apart and could face impossible odds and emerge triumphant. Dream or no dream, he would make sure the Grand Orchestra would never experience such horror or misery as for as long as they remained together.

_Through this fog they came along_  
_ Dark creatures singing a terrible song_  
_ The rest of the bar laughed at him_  
_ Only I felt my hope grow dim_  
_ They found him dead the very next day_  
_ No more stories from him, I heard them say_  
_ We blame bad luck, for his fate._  
_ Only I felt terror so great._

* * *

_**We hope you enjoyed the show, ladies and gentlemen. Quite the show it was...**_

_**Here at Heaven's Night we aim for perfection so you can expect the best every time you visit. However the night is coming to a close. So from everyone at Heaven's Night, we bid you all farewell! Come again. See you next time.  
**_


	7. Curtain Call

**It's really late and I can't sleep so that's where this chapter came from haha. This may very well be the last chapter! We've had good dreams, bad dreams, and now a lack of dreams haha. ^_^ Well, I hope you enjoy this short, but very sweet chapter ^_^**

It was late. Actually some people would call it early, but to Kohaku it was definitely late. However, he had seen this time of night more often than not lately. He would be lying if he said he'd been getting any sleep recently. He tended to stay up all night and most of the day. He would sleep in the car sometimes while they were driving between towns, but for the most part he was always awake.

Even now with the car parked outside just a few miles away from a city he couldn't sleep. He was tired. He was exhausted. And yet sleep continued to elude him. He sat in the back with his beloved Lucille. The singer rested on his chest, his body stretched out on the seat. They always slept like this. Usually Kohaku would gently rub Lucille's hair until they both fell asleep. Now, Kohaku spent the whole night simply rubbing his lover's hair.

His insomnia hadn't gone unnoticed by his team. Lucille had noticed a change in his personality right off the bat. He had asked the violinist if he was okay and every time Kohaku would tell him he was fine. Eventually, Lucille and the others started to notice a change in his performance. Not only were his violin skills failing him, but so were his shooting skills. Normally he could easily shoot five guignols in a row without missing a beat. Now, it would take him several shots before he even hit one. As far as his violin skills went he had reverted back to the way he played before him and Lucille found their love for each other. It was those bitter, cold, and sad tones that came from the violin now. There was no love in his playing whatsoever.

When they confronted him about it he had brushed them off. He told them he had been having some trouble sleeping but that it was nothing to worry about. He could tell none of them wanted to let it go so easily, but they did. They knew not to push him too far especially since he was so on edge.

So tonight was no different than the past nights. He sat in the car, staring out of the window while rubbing Lucille's hair. He couldn't even recognize how bored he was simply because he was so tired. He wanted to go to sleep so badly, but even when he shut his eyes sleep never arrived for him.

"I want to go to sleep." He whispered to himself so as not to wake the others. Gwindel and Eles were in the front seat. Eles rested her head on Gwindel's giant lap and they both slept soundly and comfortably.

"Why don't you?"

Kohaku looked with tired at eyes at his lover. Lucille stared at him with a sad look on his face. He reached up and touched Kohaku's cheek then pulled himself up more to kiss him on his other cheek. Kohaku wanted to kiss him back, but he didn't even feel enough energy to do that. Even a peck would take a lot of out him. Both he and Lucille knew that his violin playing and shooting weren't the only areas he was performing poorly in.

"I want to. I just can't. No matter how hard I try I can't sleep."

Lucille looked at him intently and stared at the dark circles under his discolored eyes. He really hadn't slept in a long time. How long, Lucille didn't know, but he could only imagine it had been close to two weeks.

"Should we try to take you to a doctor?" Lucille asked.

"It's not big deal!" Kohaku said a bit aggressively. "I'll be fine."

Lucille just shook his head. He wasn't going to let Kohaku get out of this one. He could barely protect himself let alone others on the battlefield and as much as Lucille loved him, he was starting to become more of a hindrance than a help. If he couldn't fight to protect himself and his friends then something would need to change.

"You haven't been sleeping since you had that dream about us. You know the one…."

Remnants of Kohaku's horrible nightmare came back to him. He could still see everything so clearly. He could see that damned town. He could see his friends as guignols or dead. Even though it had been so long since he had that dream he still couldn't stop thinking about it.

"It's not about the dream," Kohaku said.

"Yes it is!" Lucille said in a loud whisper, hoping he didn't accidently wake his companions. "It has everything to do with that dream. After you had that dream you…changed."

Kohaku didn't bother to ask how he changed. He had heard it all before. His violin playing had changed, his shooting techniques had changed, his personality had changed…they already talked about this and he wasn't in the mood to talk about it again. He put his hands to his eyes and rubbed them, trying to get that feeling of tiredness out of them.

"Do you still love me?"

Kohaku immediately stopped everything. That question was certainly unexpected. He slowly lowered his hands away from his eyes so he could look at the singer. Lucille's face was dead serious and he was waiting patiently for an answer.

"What kind of question is that?" was what Kohaku responded with.

"One I expect an answer to," Lucille replied back.

"You know I do!"

Lucille just sighed and shook his head. "When we fell in love your violin playing changed. It went from sounding sad, and bitter, and angry to sounding happy and full of hope. Now, your story has gone back to it's original form. I think it's because of that dream you had. It's toxic to you, Kohaku. It's poisoning your mind and it's affecting you physically and emotionally."

"And what am I supposed to do about it?" Kohaku said. He knew he sounded defensive and he indeed was being defensive. He didn't want anyone to think that something as stupid as a dream would have so much of an effect on him. However, another part of him genuinely wanted an answer to his question. He wanted sleep so badly and he figured he would do just about anything if he could have it.

Lucille wrapped his arms around his lover and gently pushed Kohaku's head to his chest, mimicking the way Kohaku had held him earlier.

"Just go to sleep," Lucille said. "Forget about that horrible nightmare. Let it go and go to sleep."

Kohaku would have argued with him a bit if he hadn't heard a beautiful sound fill the air around him. It was so lovely. He wanted to listen to it more, but he couldn't. Before he even realized it darkness surrounded him and he was unaware of anything that was going on.

* * *

Kohaku slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was staring at the ceiling of the car. He blinked a few times and tried to remember what had happened. He had just been talking to Lucille. Where was Lucille now? And why was it so bright? It was the dead of night when the two of them were talking.

"Welcome back, sleepy head!"

Kohaku nearly screamed when Eles' face appeared above his. The thought of choking her briefly crossed his mind until he actually realized what she had said.

"Sleepy head? Did I fall asleep?"

Eles nodded. "You sure did! It's a good thing too! You haven't been sleeping for a while, have you? Well, it's the middle of the afternoon so I would say you got a good and well deserved sleep."

Kohaku sat up and looked around the car. "Where is Lucille?"

"Right here!"

Kohaku watched as Lucille opened the front door and squeezed in next to Eles and Gwindel. He turned around and leaned over the front seat so he could see Kohaku.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Surprisingly…."

Lucille smiled and nodded. "I'm glad you did finally get some sleep. However, we've been waiting for you to wake up so we could all be ready to investigate the next town! Are you up for it?"

Kohaku grinned the grin that Lucille missed so much. The singer could see some rejuvenation in Kohaku and though he certainly wouldn't improve completely overnight this was a great start.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get on with it!" Kohaku shouted.

They all knew that their precious shooter, violinist, friend, and for one of them lover was back. No one spoke of the horrid nightmare Kohaku had ever again and all four of them would continue to sleep soundly and peacefully throughout the nights ahead of them. And though sometimes the occasional nightmare would invade their sleep they would easily get over it and continue to sleep sweetly and dream on.

_Even now I can't say well_  
_The only word that I want to say most_  
_But this song is definitely_  
_A love song sent to you, my dear_  
_From my heart_

* * *

**Sweet dreams, everyone. I bid you all adieu. **


End file.
